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The Blues are two weeks out from naming their starting side ahead of the Origin series opener on May 27.<\/p>\n
Even so, Daley\u2019s selection window narrowed over the weekend with a syndesmosis injury effectively sidelining winger Mark Nawaqanitawase for the series, while back-rower and Blues regular Angus Chrichton came from the field early for the Roosters with suspected medial ligament damage, and will await scans. <\/p>\n
In separate blows for Blues selectors, Adam Doueihi suffered a shoulder injury while Kotoni Staggs will await the fallout of a potential suspension, after he dropped his elbow on the Roosters\u2019 Hugo Savala. The Brisbane centre has been considered a potential replacement for Stephen Crichton, who continues his return from injury at the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
Nawaqanitawase had been firming for the Blues wing spot on the opposite side of the field to incumbent Brian To\u2019o before the injury, filling in for Jacob Kiraz. Campbell Graham, Josh Addo-Carr and Tom Jenkins have all been named as potential replacements.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll those three will be considered,\u201d Daley confirmed on Monday, before revealing a couple of other potential suitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got the option of possibly picking Tolu Koula on the wing \u2013 he\u2019s someone that is very versatile, plays centres, playing fullback at the moment for Manly. He\u2019s someone that could play out on a wing. <\/p>\n
\u201cCasey McLean has played wing for New Zealand before, and I\u2019ve got a huge opinion of Casey and think he\u2019s a wonderful player. He\u2019s another one that we will look at. Tommy Jenkins has obviously been playing there, you know what you\u2019re going to get with the Fox (Addo-Carr), Brian To\u2019o \u2013 we\u2019ve got a lot of players to choose from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleary speaks on Edwards’ Origin push | 04:47<\/p>\n
Daley revealed Doueihi had been firming for a spot on the NSW bench as a utility, after starring at halfback in the Tigers\u2019 opening rounds of the season. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel sorry for Adam because a shoulder dislocation or even a shoulder subluxation means you spend a couple of weeks on the sidelines. He\u2019s a guy that could play a number of positions as a utility and you\u2019ve got to carry someone like that on the interchange bench,\u201d Daley said of the 27-year-old. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to cover someone that can play outside backs, halves \u2013 he was right in the conversation. Unfortunately for him, he might not get that chance but you have to wait to see what the X-rays say.\u201d<\/p>\n
With all that said, Daley revealed his biggest unknown is who will fill the Blues fullback spot. Dylan Edwards is the incumbent and has been in strong form for Penrith, but James Tedesco offers Daley another salivating choice.<\/p>\n
The NSW coach said he would be more inclined to pick both, running one off the bench, rather than using Tedesco or Edwards for the vacant winger position. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re both dead-set fullbacks. I think they\u2019re out-and-out fullbacks and I don\u2019t think it would be fair. We\u2019ve just got to make a tough decision there on who misses out,\u201d Daley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere may be a possibility there that you could carry one on the bench.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Teddy] has just elevated himself again and Dylan, you know what you\u2019ll get from Dylan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will be one of our toughest decisions, which way we go there. But both are in great form, both are very important members of a footy team and both would get the job done. I\u2019d be happy either way.\u201d<\/p>\n
NSW rocked by injury concerns | 02:59<\/p>\n
New South Wales is seeking redemption in 2026 after Queensland won last year\u2019s series in the opening two games. The Origin opener will be held at Accor Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday, May 27.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re always writing down names. You\u2019re writing a list of what your team could look like, and when you\u2019re talking to the other coaches you get their feedback on what we think is the best team. It chops and changes from one week to another depending on injuries,\u201d Daley said.<\/p>\n
The Blues\u2019 bulging injury ward now includes the aforementioned names, plus Payne Haas, Jacob Kiraz, Max King, Tom Trbojevic, Mitch Kenny and Liam Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s opportunity,\u201d Daley told Sky\u2019s BSB. \u201cIt\u2019s opportunity for someone to put their hand up and someone to play in those roles. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always said that you\u2019d never pick a team until you get to the final weekend and watch the final game to see who\u2019s available. It\u2019s always difficult to know who\u2019s going to be there and who won\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Laurie Daley has revealed he may consider youth before experience on the Blues edges after an injury-ravaged weekend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-410658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}