{"id":307620,"date":"2023-06-13T20:07:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T20:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=307620"},"modified":"2023-06-13T22:59:22","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T22:59:22","slug":"legends-shock-over-enforcers-origin-snubbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=307620","title":{"rendered":"Legend's shock over enforcer's Origin snubbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

NSW Blues<\/a> legend Paul Gallen<\/a> has revealed his shock over Spencer Leniu's absence from the Origin II side with Tigers prop Stefano Utoikamanu set to debut off the bench.<\/p>\n

Leniu has been discussed as a potential bench option for the Blues but failed to gain selection again on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

The Panthers forward played with plenty of aggression against the Roosters on Saturday night after he was sin binned for a melee with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Dragons land on new coach after Griffin sacking<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Tigers stand down star after burglary charges<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Muppets' hammered over State of Origin treachery<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Gallen said Leniu's big game nous, having won two grand finals, would've been a benefit to the Blues. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"I\ufeff would've picked Spencer Leniu, I would've picked him coming off the bench," he said on 2GB's Wide World of Sports Radio.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I love Utoikamanu \ufeffas a player, I honestly think he's brilliant, he's a really good young player (but) to send a young guy up there to the cauldron of Suncorp Stadium in what is a decider for NSW is a very, very big ask for a bloke that hasn't played in any big games before, I don't think he's played a semi-final game."<\/p>\n

"You've got Spencer Leniu \ufeffwho's an absolute a weapon, who's played in multiple grand finals, I can't believe he wasn't picked but that's just the way it was.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 State of Origin series LIVE and exclusive on Channel 9 and<\/strong> 9Now<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"I'll be supporting this team no end."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Utoikamanu isn't the only debutant for the Blues with Reece Robson selected on the bench for a hooker rotation with Damien Cook.<\/p>\n

Keaon Koloamatangi is 19th man and could also debut if any of the starting side succumbs to injury.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/em>For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NSW Blues legend Paul Gallen has revealed his shock over Spencer Leniu's absence from the Origin II side with Tigers prop Stefano Utoikamanu set to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":306965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=307620"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307624,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307620\/revisions\/307624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/306965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=307620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=307620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=307620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}