{"id":781591,"date":"2026-07-06T00:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T00:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/781591\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T00:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T00:32:16","slug":"state-of-origin-news-2026-andrew-johns-admits-nsw-blues-could-make-changes-after-game-three-james-tedesco-nathan-cleary-futures-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/781591\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin news 2026: Andrew Johns admits NSW Blues could make changes after game three; James Tedesco, Nathan Cleary futures | EXCLUSIVE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Johns<\/a> has conceded the State of Origin<\/a> decider could act as the last chance for a number of high-profile NSW Blues<\/a> stars.<\/p>\n

With the series on the line at Suncorp Stadium, the future of coach Laurie Daley<\/a> has been a major talking point, especially after a horror game two defeat.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

James Tedesco and Nathan Cleary.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

However, the playing group for the Blues is under immense pressure as well and when asked if the clash in Brisbane could be do-or-die for some members of the team, Johns gave a resounding answer and suggested some replacements.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely,\u201d he said on Wide World of Sports\u2019 Immortal Behaviour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumber one will probably be fullback – Teddy [James Tedesco<\/a>] is 33 and his replacement if he wasn\u2019t there is Dylan Edwards<\/a>, who is in his thirties as well and we all know that players like Kaeo Weekes are the next generation. <\/p>\n

\u201cEthan Strange<\/a>, whether he goes in because Mitch Moses<\/a> is past 30. A lot of talk that Ethan should be starting here … he was [close to] man of the match in game one.<\/p>\n

\u201cNathan [Cleary]<\/a> is what, 29 now? In two or three years time, we all know the next one to come in is gonna be Izzy Katoa<\/a>. For whatever reason, if it doesn\u2019t work, it\u2019s gonna take a really brave call from the coach to really change our spine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether the attitude is short-term pain for long-term gain, because Katoa and Strange and whether it\u2019s Weekes or whoever, they\u2019re gonna be there for 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether someone pulls the trigger on that. The big one is probably fullback, so whether you pull the trigger on someone like Weekes. <\/p>\n

\u201cStrange will probably be five-eighth next year and barring injury, Nathan will be there but Katoa has gotta be there in the 19 for sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some big calls, but it won\u2019t happen because we\u2019re gonna win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even after winning the Dally M<\/a> last season, Tedesco is coming towards the end of his career with the Sydney Roosters and game three looms as a potential finale for the former Blues captain in the Origin arena.<\/p>\n

But the admission from Johns – the greatest playmaker in NSW history – that both Cleary and Moses could be under pressure that illustrates the desperation that is starting to be felt south of the Tweed.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Moses was the hero for the Blues in a decider, while Cleary has been at the top of the sport for the best part of a decade with Penrith.<\/p>\n

The likes of Isaah Yeo and Mitchell Barnett also have less football ahead of them than behind them and could be casualties if the Blues fall short.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew Johns has conceded the State of Origin decider could act as the last chance for a number…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-781591","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\/781591","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=781591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}