Teams for the State of Origin opener are less than a week away from being announced, but we want to hear who you think should line up for the Blues before the official squads are revealed.
Despite coming off a rare series victory, NSW coach Brad Fittler is faced with a number of selection headaches thanks to injury, suspension and poor form.
Incumbent halves James Maloney and Nathan Cleary have both struggled to make a positive impact during Penrith’s wretched start to the 2019 season, and centre James Roberts can’t get a look into Brisbane’s first-choice side right now. Lock Jack de Belin is currently stood down under the NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy.
On the injury front, winger Tom Trbojevic is out of Game 1 with a hamstring tear, and New South Wales’ centre depth has been decimated as Fitter looks for a replacement for Roberts, with Curtis Scott and Jack Bird both sitting on the sidelines.
So with all those issues making selecting a 17-man squad tricky, who would you like to see named for the Blues? Let us know by picking your preferred NSW Origin team in the form below, and be sure to let everyone know your side in the comments section.
Get your votes in by Friday, and we’ll have the results up this weekend.
The Spectator
Roar Guru
1 Tedesco 2 Cotric 3 D walker 4 Mitchel 5 Ado-Car 6 Keary 7 Reynolds 8 Klemmer 9 Cook 10 Vaughn 11 Frizel 12 Cordner 13 jake T 14 Aubusson 15 Hass 16 Lodge 17 J Thomson 18th man Peachey I’d start large at lock and bring Jake on after 15- 20 mins so he misses the burn out quarter of the first half, Aubo is the most consistent footballer he deserves a shot. Payne Haas actions say it all and Lodge will go up a level and prob the biggest nrl playing lol.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
The Blues lose nothing on last year if they pick Cleary. His stats last year in Origin were unremarkable. 1. Averaged 245m in kicks per game with a total of 1 forced line drop out for the series. 2. No try assists or line breaks in the series. 3. A total of 78 tackles at less than 80% efficiency for the series. 4. Less than 150m run for the series. 5. They won with Cleary as a passenger last year. Why not choose him again?
Daniel Szabo
Roar Guru
1. Tedesco 2. Addo-Carr 3. Mitchell 4. Croker 5. Ferguson 6. Walker 7. Keary 8. Klemmer 9. Cook 10. Vaughan 11. Cordner (C) 12. Frizell 13. Trbojevic 14. Murray 15. McLean 16. Haas 17. Crichton Walker and Keary NEED to be the halves. It's criminal to ignore players in that good form.
Albo
Roar Rookie
I want to start Cam Murray ! My team: 1. Tedesco 2. Addo-Carr 3. Mitchell 4. Roberts / Ramien 5. Ferguson 6. Keary 7. Cleary 8. Klemmer 9. Cook 10. Trbojevic 11. Cordner 12. Frizell 13. Murray 14. Vaughan 15. Haas 16. Matterson 17. Shaun Lane
Ray Paks
Roar Rookie
No options for Dale Finucan, Jordan McLean, Jesse Ramien? These 3 are highly likely to be picked, not sure why they're not there
steveng
Roar Rookie
Another one ‘bites the dust’ as “Pangai Jr told The Courier-Mail his heritage comes before the desire to wear NSW and Australian jumpers” that’s pretty low! Maybe TPJ could have his birth certificate changed to play for Qld, if TPJ would have chosen Tonga instead of Qld? TPJ, the Blues and Australia don’t need you, good luck TPJ.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
For the $90k he would get for playing Origin, I am sure he could be convinced to play Origin this year and then change his mind...
Flexis
Roar Rookie
Be a cool feature if we could see the formatted summary of the team we pick after submitting these.
Flexis
Roar Rookie
“Origin is one of the greatest spectacles in rugby league, but playing for your country is still the greatest honour our game has to offer.” Yep TPJ is out. More of this please. Internationals are on the up! Love it!
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Think you need to add Jordan McLean as a bench/prop option. And by the looks of things Tevita Panga Jr is no longer making himself available for NSW. My team: 1. Tedesco 2. Addo-Carr 3. Mitchell 4. Roberts 5. Ferguson 6. Keary 7. Cleary 8. Klemmer 9. Cook 10. Vaughan 11. Cordner 12. Frizell 13. Trbojevic 14. Murray/Radley 15. Haas 16. McLean 17. Crichton