Brad Fittler has defended the form of Jarome Luai and his fellow Panthers stars just weeks out from choosing his NSW team for the State of Origin series opener, while also praising the evolution of Dally M winner Nicho Hynes.
On the eve of what he predicts to be a “golden period” for the Origin rivalry, Fittler said he will wait as long as possible to determine Jake Trbojevic’s fitness after the Manly warhorse suffered a calf injury.
But the most intriguing selection debate looms at five-eighth for game one in Adelaide, with Hynes mounting an irresistible case to be included in NSW’s 17 – and even threatening Luai’s spot at No.6.
Asked if Luai was being undersold in the selection debate, Fittler said: “Of course. Penrith is in the top group. If you look at their defence compared to everyone else, it’s still the best by far. They’re going OK.”
Panthers star Nathan Cleary will fill one of the two halves positions – pending injury – and Hynes has rocketed into calculations for a NSW debut with a string of stunning performances, including a man-of-the-match performance against the Cowboys last week, netting the inaugural Paul Green Medal.
But he still has a way to dislodge incumbent Luai, despite Fittler confirming he couldn’t have been more impressed with the Sharks halfback’s start to 2023.
Sharks star Nicho Hynes, NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler and Panthers star Jarome Luai.
“You expect a certain game from him, and he delivers,” Fittler said. “That’s it. Every week.
“When he has a great game his expectation goes a bit higher and he starts delivering on that. That’s the good thing about him. There’s no downtime, he’s just on. It says a lot about Cronulla in they didn’t rush him back [from his calf injury].
“You try to plan [for every scenario in Origin], but sometimes it’s tricker than others. I think he might have played a bit of hooker and he’d put his hand up to do anything. I’m enjoying watching him play.”
Bulldogs playmaker Matt Burton has almost been the forgotten man in the backline discussion having shone for NSW in their thumping game two win in Perth last year on his Origin debut.
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui got stuck into Matt Burton last year’s Origin decider.
Burton retained his place at left centre for the decider, which was marred by a brawl involving Burton and Queensland enforcer Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
“It was obviously a tough one to lose that [game],” Burton said. “It plays on your mind a fair bit, and you get the hunger to want to do it again and get back out here. It’s definitely something I’ll be striving for.
“You come out of those games and try to reflect on what you can do to make yourself better for next time it comes around. I’d be more than happy to get the call-up again, but I just want to work hard for the boys here [at the Bulldogs] and hopefully, it comes through that.”
While Fittler has had to deal with injury problems for contenders Liam Martin, Josh Addo-Carr, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Trbojevic, there’s been a little more for Queensland coach Billy Slater to smile about.
Fittler said Trbojevic has told him he wants to return within two weeks from his injury setback despite Manly officials claiming he is likely to miss four weeks.
“There’s two really even [Origin] teams at the moment,” Fittler said. “I think they both have great angles of attack. Their team is different to ours. They have their positions of attack which are different to ours. They’ve got some tough forwards, we’ve got some tough forwards and I feel like it’s a real golden period of Origin at the moment.”
Fittler and NSW greats Paul McGregor, Andrew Johns, Danny Buderus, Craig Wing and Steve Menzies put city and country players from NSW’s under-18s and under-16s squads through their paces in a coaching clinic at Sydney Olympic Park on Wednesday.
“A lot of the country kids normally don’t seem as developed, but obviously there are some programs going on out there because they look strong,” Fittler said. “This is the most important thing [we do].
“Before I coached Origin I was with the 16s and 18s and we used to have huge camps at Narrabeen. The first [Origin] team I picked about 11 kids came out of these previous teams I had coached. Everyone is coming out of COVID and some are taking longer to adjust, but this is the most important part of our program.”
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