NSW centre Josh Dugan has been ruled out of State of Origin Game 1 due to an elbow injury he suffered in his last game for St George Illawarra.
Dugan will be replaced by long-time holder of the position for the Blues Josh Morris, who will once again be tasked with containing Greg Inglis.
Morris had previously been released to play club football this weekend, but will be a late withdrawal from the Canterbury Bulldogs side playing this afternoon to link up with the Blues, who have moved from their base in Coffs Harbour to Sydney.
Dugan was first under threat during his last game played for the Dragons after pulling up in serious pain, having taken a tumble in the in-goal. The hyper-extension of his elbow wasn’t expected to rule him out of the game, but it’s proven too much to recover in just a week and a half, and he will now turn his sites to Game 2 to be played in Brisbane.
NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley will address the media later today when the Blues arrive in Sydney.
Morris has been a strong performer in defence for the Blues, having done a great job in wrapping up Queensland’s best attacking weapon, Greg Inglis. He has held the position since 2012, but Matt Moylan and Josh Dugan’s form forced Daley to make the call to leave him out of the side.
Daley confirmed Morris would return to take over at right centre shortly after the Blues announced the withdrawal of Dugan, who experienced further problems with the elbow he hyper-extended in St George Illawarra’s loss to South Sydney in round 10.
“It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make,” said Dugan.
“I aggravated it at training yesterday. It’s very disappointing but I had to do what was best for the team.”
BlueBlood
Guest
Headline Correction - Dugan ruled out of Origin!
Red Dog
Guest
They'll he running at him all night .
GTW
Guest
NSW is a better team with Morris in the centres. Duges is a fullback and looks lost in the centres. At least you'd welcome Morris at your dinner table.
Squirrel
Guest
Ferguson is terrible in reading the defence. He will let 3 tries in
steveng
Roar Rookie
One thing about this Dugan saga is that Des wasn't too happy about Josh Morris being called up for origin and the complete lack of unprofessionalism in the NSW staff for treating the NRL competition with disrespect and as a second fiddle to origin.
Zachary Gates
Roar Guru
Us Blues fans can only hope Dugan won't be missed too much. A kick-returning metre-eater has interestingly been replaced by a pillar in defense in Morris who really should have been in the side all along.
NQ Cowboy
Guest
Damn. That is bad news for Qld.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Jeynolds is my hero but even I wouldn't pick him on the bench. Either he is 5/8 or he is out. Just like Dugan who should play fullback or not be in the team. But that is my view of things.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Well I guess that's the risk SA. But you have to go into a game with a plan you expect to execute. You can plan for the unexpected but it's never going to be ideal. If Farah goes down then, yeah, J Reynolds would be a better option to slot into 9. Although still relatively weak there. But I think with the power game the Blues will play, they'll hope that QLD might be wrecked late in each half and Walker can open them up. Or at the very least the roll up the field they might enjoy will be better exploited by Walker's speed. All good in theory. But we won't know if it's a success til Wed
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I don't mind Walker at all. But of course, if he isn't allowed to play to his strengths, then the whole selection becomes a nothing one in the mold of the original bench selection of Jeynolds.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Yeah, I tend to agree. Most of my beef, I suppose, centres on being caught up in what Daley says. The logic for not picking Jeynolds doesn't match the logic of picking Farah, for example. But really, when you think about it, the side isn't a bad one at all.
Don
Roar Rookie
Daley needs to learn that when the media asks you a question you have no obligation to give them an answer. The best don't answer the questions, they make statements sending the message they want.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
2 out of 17 ain't bad though Rene. I'll agree that Farah isn't in great form. But he has performed on the big stage before. I'm happy with Daley going down that route. Although the concussion is a concern. I also think Walker is going to surprise everyone. You don't represent Australia at 19 without having that something special. He's gone to a club, clearly rebuilding, and been expected to hit the ground running in a new position, with multiple changes around him on a weekly basis. Not many at 21 would be killing it in that situation. But given a simple task of using his exceptional running game, and strength in contact, he'll prove a handful when others are tired and he's lurking around for offloads. I don't think the other candidates have that, or have been involved in big games before which is also a factor.
Renegade
Roar Guru
I think its a good side too and 85% of the way to the best NSW can field. The issue though EJ is that the players that missed out are in far better form than the ones that got picked. Farah and Walker are the two examples in reference to that statement. That said, I think its a good enough side to win.... the backline is the best we have and should be able to match it with QLD which in the past is where the Blues have been left well behind. If the forwards can win the battle which most of the time they do, the halves and backline should be able to get us home.
Muzz
Guest
MAX, Prepare the boat. Where taking Farah deep sea fishing.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
I think the strength of the team can be seen in who has missed out. J Reynolds, Scott, Merrin all in great form. 7 changes. 4 debutants. Daley has taken some risks. But also maintained enough old heads to send out a quality squad.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
A particular style indeed, specifically one that was good a decade of development ago.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Agree SA. Imagine how Reynolds must have felt when Daley comes out with the only reason Pearce wasn't picked was because he needs more game time.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I think the side is fine. Jeynolds and Ennis were probably hard done by but the addition of Aeynolds, Moylan and Mansour is a good thing, me thinks.
Red Dog
Guest
I'm adamant your big mate's good for a couple of try stifling hit ups per game along with Farah and Bird . Don't get me wrong I know he does plenty to get NSW up field , as do the other two but they all seem to be prone to brainsnaps and nullifying 3rd , 4th and 5th tackle options as well as delivering stress relief to QLD right when they need it.