{"id":688269,"date":"2026-05-22T22:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T22:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/688269\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T22:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T22:56:10","slug":"state-of-origin-2026-ethan-strange-opens-up-on-nsw-blues-debut-and-call-up-relationship-with-ricky-stuart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/688269\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin 2026: Ethan Strange opens up on NSW Blues debut and call-up, relationship with Ricky Stuart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A minor tweak to the NRL\u2019s interchange rules has opened the door for a young Canberra Raiders star to make his State of Origin debut for the NSW Blues in this year\u2019s series opener.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/nrl?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkleague-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-nrl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Four years after making his NRL debut in Round 24 of the 2023 season, Ethan Strange has been selected on the extended bench in the No.18 jersey <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779017096_680_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WHAT&#8217;S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n<p>The call-up caps off a remarkable 12 months for the rising 21-year-old after a breakout 2025 campaign for the Raiders in first grade, which saw them claim the Minor Premiership before being named in the 2025 Ashes squad for the Australian Kangaroos.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was really special. It was like a dream sort of phone call,\u201d Strange said about receiving the news from Blues coach Laurie Daley that he would be representing his state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know if I was expecting it. It was a bit later and Hudson got the call a bit earlier than me so I wasn\u2019t 100 per cent sure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut when I saw it, it was really cool. I was at home with my partner watching the footy and I saw his name come up and I was like, \u2018Oh, my God. What\u2019s going on here?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe called me and said he was going to bring me on the extended bench.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/newsletter-sign-up?utm_source=NRLArticle&amp;utm_medium=TextLink&amp;utm_campaign=signup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Strange has had a remarkable past 12 months.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Capable of playing a number of different positions, such as in the centres or at five-eighth, Strange has been earmarked for the Origin arena.<\/p>\n<p>This has been the case ever since he won Player of the Match in the Under-19s State of Origin game in 2023, where he helped lead the Blues to a victory by scoring a hat-trick of tries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith new faces comes new energy. I think all these players deserve their positions,\u201d NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEthan Strange went away and played for Australia last year and was very impressive through the finals series.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Strange speaks on &#8216;surreal&#8217; origin call | 02:14<\/p>\n<p>Although he has drawn comparisons to Daley, which he described as \u201ccool\u201d, his journey hasn\u2019t been entirely straightforward.<\/p>\n<p>The son of Women\u2019s NSW Blues coach John Strange, Ethan started out with the Roosters and played alongside the likes of Benaiah Ioelu, Salesi Fokei and Robert Toia, who will represent the QLD Maroons in Game One.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was just grateful to play NRL, so to be here in a situation like this is pretty cool,\u201d Strange added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was at the Roosters coming through. I played Harold Matts for Central Coast Roosters and SG Ball with a few of the boys that are playing NRL now there (at the Roosters).<\/p>\n<p>He is a former teammate of Robert Toia.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the opportunity around when I was still in school to go down to Canberra and they offered me full-time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI spoke to Sticky and I really liked what he said and he seems like a very honest man and everything that he said he\u2019s done so I\u2019m happy I made that decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a very passionate man and I love playing for him. I wouldn\u2019t want to play for any other coach.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A minor tweak to the NRL\u2019s interchange rules has opened the door for a young Canberra Raiders star&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-688269","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\/688269","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=688269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}