{"id":502317,"date":"2026-02-25T03:40:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T03:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502317\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T03:40:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T03:40:22","slug":"how-origin-rule-change-opens-the-door-for-nrls-most-exciting-centre-the-western-weekender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502317\/","title":{"rendered":"How Origin rule change opens the door for NRL’s most exciting centre \u2022 The Western Weekender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Panthers centre Casey McLean. Photo: Melinda Jane.
\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kiwi international and rising Panthers star Casey McLean has spoken publicly for the first time since the NRL updated its eligibility criteria for State of Origin.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the NRL announced that players representing Tier 1 nations like New Zealand and England, will now be eligible for selection for New South Wales and Queensland as long as they meet the core Origin eligibility criteria.<\/p>\n

In a massive change from previous years, a Kiwi international, like 19-year-old McLean, will now be considered for Origin selection because he was born in New South Wales, specifically Blacktown.<\/p>\n

Speaking with the Weekender ahead of his third year in the NRL, the try scoring machine said the new rules are \u201csuper exciting for the game\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a massive boost overall for international footy and for State of Origin. It now allows the best of the best to represent who they want, there\u2019s no barriers anymore,\u201d McLean said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Casey McLean chats with Nathan Taylor. Photo: Melinda Jane.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the call arises, I\u2019d love to be a part of it (Origin), I didn\u2019t mind putting on that U19\u2019s NSW jersey a couple of years ago. I think it\u2019s cool to represent where you\u2019ve grown up but, at the end of the day, I\u2019d still choose New Zealand every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before \u2013 and if \u2013 that opportunity to play for the Blues comes to fruition, McLean needs to impress with the Panthers first, staring next Friday night against Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos, at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

McLean, who missed playing with Penrith in the pre-season due to NRL All Star commitments, said thinking about Friday\u2019s mouthwatering match-up makes him feel like a kid again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time! It\u2019s Round 1 . . . footy\u2019s back! That little kid in me is still just as excited, I\u2019m really keen to play footy and I\u2019m excited for this contest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McLean said the pain of losing to Brisbane in last September\u2019s Preliminary Final at Lang Park still burns deep inside of him as it robbed him of the chance to play in his first NRL Grand Final.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, it\u2019s still a little grudge that I\u2019m holding, I suppose,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

\"\"Casey McLean. Photo: Melinda Jane.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good rivalry to have. They\u2019re a really good team for a reason, they won the comp for a reason and have superstars all over the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, for us, there\u2019s still hunger at this club. All the boys have that hunger that never really went away. We have a winning mentality here and you don\u2019t want to be the person to let anyone down.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Penrith\u2019s shocking start to the 2025 season, which saw them lose five of their first six games, McLean said the club is focused on one pivotal detail in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big thing that was talked about this pre-season was getting our starts right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I just want to find a sense of consistency. I wasn\u2019t really pleased with myself last year for all of that\u2026 it\u2019s been clocking over in my mind a lot, so I just want to find a little bit of consistent form this season and take everything week by week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nathan Taylor<\/p>\n

Nathan Taylor is the Weekender’s Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Panthers centre Casey McLean. Photo: Melinda Jane. Kiwi international and rising Panthers star Casey McLean has spoken publicly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-502317","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\/502317","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=502317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}