NSW coach Laurie Daley has declared captain Boyd Cordner a certain starter for the State of Origin decider, but is unsure if he will last the entire 80 minutes.
Cordner proved he has overcome a nagging calf problem by completing Tuesday’s captain’s run on the Gold Coast, meaning the Blues will field the same 17 for the entire series.
“He’ll definitely play. I just walked off the training paddock and he’s good to go. Everyone’s right. We’ve just had the medical staff go through everyone. We’ll be 1-17,” Daley said after the run.
However Daley admitted he was unsure whether Cordner would play the entire match and that getting 40 minutes out of the Sydney Roosters star was enough to make an impact.
Bench second-rower Wade Graham is likely to spell Cordner on the left edge, with Tyson Frizell on the right and Josh Jackson playing as the third middle forward.
“I think if (Cordner) played half a game, that’d be great for us,” Daley said.
“But he’s going in with all the intentions of playing 80. Whether he gets through 80 or not in terms of fitness, that’ll be yet to be decided.
“But the thing about our team is we’ve got plenty of backrowers that do play 80 minutes for their teams and we’ve been sharing the workload around with those other players.
“If he needed a spell, we’d be able to give him one because we’ve got a lot of depth there.”
Daley denied taking an underdone Cordner into the match is a gamble.
“I’m not a gambler so I wouldn’t be targeting him with this game if I didn’t think he was fit, because we’ve got fit guys there ready,” he said.
“He’s proven himself and we’ve given him right up until today to work with him on the decision. But what he’s been able to do has just confirmed that he’s right.”
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