A NSW centre who helped coach Laurie Daley clinch the 2014 Origin series was on hand to test the Blues goal-line defence Thursday.
Michael Jennings, who won a premiership with the Sydney Roosters, and played 18 Origin games, was a part of the St Marys’ Ron Massey Cup team instructed to try and replicate some attacking shapes the Queenslanders will throw at NSW in game one next Wednesday night.
The rain became so heavy in the morning that Blues’ officials gave brief thought to shifting the field session from Leura down the mountain to Penrith.
Former NSW champion Craig Gower coached St Marys, Wests Tigers Adam Doueihi, St George Illawarra pair Hamish Stewart and Cody Ramsey, and Canterbury’s Jacob Preston helped make up the NSW numbers, while NRL referee Gerard Sutton officiated the soggy hitout.
Jennings retired from the NRL last year, but said he was immediately impressed by how slick and connected the Blues looked after just two field sessions.
Michael Jennings at NSW training on Thursday.Credit: NRL Imagery/Grant Trouville
The 37-year-old Jennings also praised Maroons’ debutant Rob Toia, a teammate of his at the Roosters last year, and whose raw power reminded him of Newcastle winger Greg Marzhew.
“It was a high-intensity session, we were just running attack, and they wanted to do all their goal-line defence,” Jennings said.
“We ran a few plays that Queensland usually run. I was lucky I avoided ‘Critta’ [Stephen Crichton].
“They’ve got so many leaders in their team. They’ve got X-factor on both edges, and the spine is very calm.
“We watched them do their edge-on-edge stuff – their left side versus their right side – And just a couple of sessions in, they look so crisp and so connected. It looked like they had been playing together a while. The speed of their ball movement was also unreal.”
Fullback Dylan Edwards has the job of organising the defensive line, which is never easy when players are expected to gel in a short amount of time.
“It’s a bit of a challenge because you have players from different clubs and different systems, and that’s our focus at the moment, our defence,” Edwards said.
“Luckily there were a lot of boys here from last year, so there’s a bit of familiarity there.
Edwards added Mitchell Moses defended well on the left side of the field, even though he has spent most of his career playing on the right side.
Having won an Origin series under Daley, Jennings said of the returning Blues coach: “He’s been around that arena, and knows exactly how to get players ready. When I played under him, I felt safe and really calm going into games.”
The Blues will have Friday off, complete their main session at Blue Mountains Grammar on Saturday – when Payne Haas is expected to test out his injured quad for the first time – before flying to Brisbane on Sunday.
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