Luai, Paulo axed in mass NSW changes as Campbell-Gillard, Walker earn recalls

Brad Fittler has axed Jarome Luai and recalled veterans Cody Walker and Reagan Campbell-Gillard while Bradman Best and Keaon Koloamatangi will be handed debuts in a huge Blues shake-up for the series finale.

In a bid to avoid a first series whitewash since 2010, Fittler has wielded the axe with Luai, Parramatta’s Junior Paulo, Newcastle’s Tyson Frizell, Canberra’s Hudson Young and the Tigers’ Stefano Utoikamanu all set to miss out.

Walker, 33, will play his first Origin game since 2020 when he lines up alongside Mitchell Moses in the halves with the Blues delaying their team announcement on Monday to check on the fitness of Broncos prop Payne Haas (ankle).

It’s a stunning recall for Walker, who many thought had played his last game for the Blues when Wayne Bennett’s unfashionable Maroons won the COVID-interrupted 2020 series.

Best’s elevation came from nowhere after he starred in Newcastle’s 66-0 thumping of the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium on Sunday, costing Canterbury’s Matt Burton the vacant left centre spot.

Burton was pencilled in for the position, but his day went from bad to worse as he was cited for a hip-drop tackle on Best, which will cost him $1800 with an early guilty plea.

Koloamatangi has been added to the NSW squad and is in line for a debut, while Campbell-Gillard is expected to be drafted into the team at the expense of clubmate Paulo, who has been a staple of Fittler’s NSW sides in recent years.

Paulo’s Parramatta co-captain Clint Gutherson has won a surprise recall too and is poised to be on the bench alongside South Sydney’s Damien Cook, who was used for 78 minutes as a makeshift centre in game two after Tom Trbojevic’s season-ending pectoral injury.