{"id":502234,"date":"2026-02-25T02:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502234\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T02:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:47:12","slug":"casey-mclean-opens-up-on-dream-to-play-for-nsw-blues-in-state-of-origin-origin-eligibility-new-zealand-kiwis-penrith-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502234\/","title":{"rendered":"Casey McLean opens up on dream to play for NSW Blues in State of Origin, Origin eligibility, New Zealand Kiwis, Penrith Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penrith Panthers rookie sensation Casey McLean has become the third New Zealand international to confirm interest in playing State of Origin football.<\/p>\n

After Addin Fonua-Blake (New South Wales)<\/a> and Briton Nikora (Queensland) revealed last week that they want to represent their respective state, the former Under-19s New South Wales Blues representative has become the latest international player to open the door to potentially pulling on the sky blue jersey at the senior level.<\/p>\n

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Born in Blacktown, New South Wales, the 19-year-old is eligible for selection following a change to the Origin rules and could come into consideration for this year\u2019s State of Origin series.<\/p>\n

However, McLean will have to contend with incumbent centres Latrell Mitchell and Stephen Crichton for a spot in the line-up as well as the likes of Campbell Graham, Tom Trbojevic and Bradman Best.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I suppose so,\u201d McLean told foxsports.com.au when asked if he wants represent the New South Wales Blues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a really tough decision (to play for New Zealand and not the Blues at the time) but at the end of the day, I wanted to represent my family and where I come from.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I put on that Under-19s jersey to represent where I\u2019m from, so that\u2019d be a cool thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up in New South Wales and playing my junior footy back in Penrith, it\u2019ll be cool to represent that side, but then also stay with my roots and where I want to represent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The McLean brothers have both represented the Under-19s NSW Blues.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

The decision from McLean comes as the Panthers attempt to regain the premiership from the Brisbane Broncos, who broke the club\u2019s streak of four consecutive titles.<\/p>\n

A premiership threat alongside the Broncos, Storm and the Sydney Roosters, the Panthers haven\u2019t lost any superstars from their roster – like they have in recent years – and have instead recruited six new players.<\/p>\n

Five of them come from the New Zealand Warriors side, which won the 2025 NSW Cup and State Championship titles, and Jack Cogger has returned to the club following a stint with the Knights.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always get really greedy and hungry for wins and victory – it\u2019s human nature,\u201d McLean added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had it for so long, we\u2019re still striving to be better as a team and better as individuals. It\u2019s just a cool environment to be part of.<\/p>\n

\u201cTowards the back end of last year, we found a bit of rhythm, and I think it helped everyone. We came together, started to build combinations and just got to keep building and play to our strengths.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to be that teammate that let\u2019s another one down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penrith Panthers rookie sensation Casey McLean has become the third New Zealand international to confirm interest in playing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-502234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}