{"id":773983,"date":"2026-07-02T09:35:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/773983\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T09:35:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:35:36","slug":"state-of-origin-nsw-blues-hopeful-ethan-strange-will-be-fit-for-decider-after-ankle-scare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/773983\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin: NSW Blues hopeful Ethan Strange will be fit for decider after ankle scare"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Christian Nicolussi\" data-testid=\"author-avatar-image\" height=\"64\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/635402f1698dc5687fb8f98be5c093fe76cbc56f.png\"  width=\"64\" class=\"sc-9a01536c-0 libeSR\"\/>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p>AAA<\/p>\n<p>Kingscliff: Ethan Strange is confident he will be fit for Wednesday\u2019s Origin decider after rolling his left ankle at training and sending a scare through NSW camp.<\/p>\n<p>Strange limped off the field at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast before later hobbling through the main foyer of the team\u2019s hotel in Kingscliff carrying an ice compression machine.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ethan Strange (left) at training on Thursday.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a2a94a301c399cd1d11e8d1f5403985370be67df.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ldCIuB\"\/>Ethan Strange (left) at training on Thursday.Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just rolled it \u2013 I should be sweet,\u201d Strange told this masthead, before disappearing into his room to start his recovery.<\/p>\n<p>The Blues are confident Strange, who has been named to start on the bench, will be fit, but know the next 24 hours are crucial.<\/p>\n<p>Canterbury\u2019s Lachie Galvin was brought into camp to spend a few days with the Blues, but is due to return to Sydney after Saturday\u2019s training session.<\/p>\n<p>Galvin\u2019s Bulldogs teammate Matt Burton would be the most likely playmaking replacement should Strange\u2019s ankle not improve, especially with the Dogs having the bye this weekend.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Dolphins halfback Isaiya Katoa is out of play with a broken wrist, while Wests Tigers co-captain Jarome Luai, who did an excellent job clinching the decider on Queensland soil two years ago, is unavailable due to delayed concussion symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>The players have Friday off, which will give the team\u2019s medicos an opportunity to work with 21-year-old Strange.<\/p>\n<p>Strange told teammates he had rolled his ankle a few weeks earlier, but it had not been an issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnkles are a funny thing, they can feel like the worst things in the world when you do them, but in two or three days, you realise you can run and strap them up,\u201d Blues back-rower Liam Martin said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lachie Galvin goes through his paces at Cbus Super Stadium.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/734c213bd9fc986c16bc381bfd4428f214cc75ef.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ldCIuB\"\/>Lachie Galvin goes through his paces at Cbus Super Stadium.Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not a doctor, but I\u2019m backing Strangey to be right. He\u2019s a tough cookie, and if anyone can get through it, I\u2019m sure he will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Stephen Crichton said his temporary move to the halves at the Bulldogs had helped take some of the pressure off Galvin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m enjoying my time at No.6,\u201d Crichton said. \u201cLachie still runs the show, but I feel my communication and clarity makes other people\u2019s roles a bit easier, and he can roam and do what he does best.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince I\u2019ve come into the No.6, I feel Burto [Burton] has also been loving his footy in the centres. I love the combination I have with him, and I try to feed him the ball. His communication has gone through the roof as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Related Article<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/the-penrith-band-is-back-together-that-could-spell-bad-news-for-queensland-20260701-p60bso.html\" tabindex=\"-1\" class=\"sc-cba76dee-0 hdiTqm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Stephen Crichton is happy to be back with Liam Martin and Nathan Cleary.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/506835261d3d1cdd539e5c62801338aaa8fa891a.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ioInpc\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Just as Blues coach Laurie Daley <a class=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/look-who-has-been-invited-into-nsw-origin-camp-20260701-p60bjx.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">commended Galvin<\/a> for being able to stay focused and block out the \u201coutside noise\u201d, Crichton said: \u201cI don\u2019t know how I\u2019d go with that much media scrutiny at that age. I\u2019ve learned a lot now, but at his age, what he\u2019s gone through, and what his family has gone through, it will hold him in good stead in the future, not just physically but mentally as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year he has been one of our best, even though we didn\u2019t start the year we wanted to.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe way he\u2019s developed as a player, he deserves to be here [with the Blues] training with the boys, and learning from the best players.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. <a class=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/newsletter-signup?newsletter=sport&amp;utm_source=EditorialArticle&amp;utm_medium=ArticleText&amp;utm_campaign=Newsletters\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p>From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-773983","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\/773983","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=773983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}