AAA<\/p>\n
NSW playmaker Mitchell Moses has been ruled out of the opening State of Origin match with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n
Moses pulled up sore after doing extra work after training on Monday, and the decision was made not to risk him for game one against Queensland at Accor Stadium. Ethan Strange, initially named on the bench, will start in the halves alongside Nathan Cleary.<\/p>\n
NSW coach Laurie Daley confirmed the loss of Moses at his press conference on Tuesday morning, and was optimistic the Parramatta half would be able to return for the final two games of the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s out,\u201d Daley said. \u201cHe\u2019s had a strain of the hammy.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing major, but just too risky only 48 hours out from the game, so Ethan Strange will start, and Matty Burton will come to the bench.<\/p>\n
\u201cBig loss, but like Origin, you expect nothing different; there\u2019s always unexpected things that happen.<\/p>\n
![\"Ethan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/28ff99bc5b82ff401373c912b6f0bf7bde51f029.jpeg\")
Ethan Strange will start at five-eighth for the Blues on Wednesday night.Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a really good, strong, group of young men, it won\u2019t faze them, they\u2019ll just move on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it\u2019s disappointing for Mitch, [he was a] big part of the team, but I think we\u2019re a bit older and wiser knowing now that when you bring big groups of people in together, they\u2019re going to be ready to go at any stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Ethan\u2019s trained with us all week, so there\u2019s no issue there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daley said that Moses had not had a hamstring injury before, and it was not expected to sideline him for an extended period. The coach said the Parramatta playmaker would be considered for the rest of the series, and may even be available for Parramatta\u2019s clash with Newcastle on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a … serious issue, he won\u2019t miss a lot of football,\u201d Daley said. \u201cHe\u2019s just gotta get himself right, and I\u2019m sure he will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strange is one of six Blues debutants, and Daley felt he was adequately prepared to start the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always loved Eth as a player,\u201d Daley said.<\/p>\n
I probably watch more Canberra games than any other team, to be fair, so I\u2019ve got a fair idea on Eth as a player, and I like the way that he plays.<\/p>\n
![\"Mitchell](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3332f8d9c7c458c629234d478057d65edb20e335.jpeg\")
Mitchell Moses will miss Wednesday\u2019s Origin series opener due to a hamstring injury.Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this level, if you\u2019ve got a strong running game, and you want to challenge the defence, there\u2019s a lot of fatigue that happens in Origin. If he just backs his instincts, he\u2019ll play well.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m not worried about Ethan, he\u2019ll play well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The withdrawal of Moses, and the outstanding kicking game that he brings, will likely put more pressure on Cleary to control the game. However, Daley refuted suggestions that the Panthers halfback hadn\u2019t owned Origin and needed to do so for the Blues to win.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, I think that that\u2019s the storyline around Origin and Nath, but I don\u2019t see it like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us to have success, it just has to be a team performance. If we\u2019re relying on Nathan Cleary to go out and get man of the match, then we\u2019re kidding ourselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve gotta rely on 17 guys to be able to work hard for each other. We all share the wins, we share the losses, we share every moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see it like Nath has to own Origin. He\u2019s won man of the matches, he\u2019s been a part of winning Origin series before. It\u2019s a big game for everyone. I\u2019m excited, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related Article NSW skipper Isaah Yeo said the time Strange spent on the Kangaroos tour – he was part of the touring party, but didn\u2019t play against England – would prove beneficial.<\/p>\n \u201cEthan was a sponge over there, you could just see he was sort of gravitating particularly towards Nathan, Mitch, Cam Munster … obviously over there,\u201d Yeo said.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, they\u2019ll be fine. We\u2019ve obviously prepared for different things and different scenarios, so Ethan and Nathan had little moments together on the field \u2026 Ultimately, we want Ethan to be Ethan. His best attribute is when he\u2019s running, taking the line on, and being hard to handle. I don\u2019t think much changes for him.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a cruel blow for Moses, who has been limited to just six Origin appearances in five years due to injury. Speaking last week, the Parramatta halfback hoped his luckless run was behind him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been no secret that I obviously haven\u2019t had the best run of injuries the last few years,\u201d Moses said at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been feeling really good at the moment, and coming into this Origin series I\u2019ve been feeling really good. So, touch wood I\u2019m injury-free this series and can punch it out. I\u2019m excited for that challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Ethan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779752713_420_28ff99bc5b82ff401373c912b6f0bf7bde51f029.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Billie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774476012_913_1f26d30eae26b4882dcc1afb0e0ac232ec55551b.png\")
Billie Eder<\/a> is a sports reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated May 26, 2026 \u2014 7:39am,first published 6:40am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-694500","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\/694500","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=694500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}