{"id":384359,"date":"2024-04-12T22:16:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T22:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=384359"},"modified":"2024-04-13T07:03:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T07:03:44","slug":"freddy-joey-debate-crucial-origin-spot-for-new-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=384359","title":{"rendered":"Freddy, Joey debate crucial Origin spot for new coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the 2024 State of Origin<\/a> series set to kick off in just under two months time, questions are beginning to linger about who coach Michael Maguire<\/a> will choose to wear the No.9 jersey for the Blues.<\/p>\n

Damien Cook<\/a> has been a mainstay in the role for many years, with a dominant series performance by Billy Slater's<\/a> Maroons side seeing Queensland retain the Origin shield.<\/p>\n

In his first series at the helm of the New South Wales<\/a> side, Maguire has suggested there will be some shake-ups to the team fans have seen take the field in previous years and the dummy-half spot is one of the most contentious.<\/p>\n

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Speaking on Wide World of Sports' Freddy and The Eighth<\/em><\/a>, league legend Brad Fittler<\/a> and NRL immortal Andrew Johns<\/a>\ufeff revealed their top contenders to start at dummy-half in the upcoming series.<\/p>\n

According to Johns, the first man in line for the sky blue jersey should be Cowboys hooker Reece Robson, claiming the 25-year-old was "made for origin".<\/p>\n

\"Reece<\/p>\n

\ufeff"If I was coach, I would be starting with Reece Robson," Johns said.Freddy and the Eighth<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffHe's rugged. He's tough. He can play in the back row … he's made for origin."<\/p>\n

Quick to respond to Johns' call, Fittler revealed he believes West Tigers<\/a> captain Api Koroisau<\/a> is a certain choice to take to the field come June 5.<\/p>\n

Mat Thompson asked: "\ufeffSo you're saying, Koroisau's in the team?"<\/p>\n

"I think Koroisau and Reece Robson," Fittler replied.<\/p>\n

\"Api<\/p>\n

Koroisau made his NSW debut in 2022 and was selected to play in Game I of the 2023 series, but was ruled out of the remaining two games after suffering from a broken jaw at the hands of Titans lock Tino Fa'asuamaleaui in Round 15<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rabbitohs<\/a> recruit Jack Wighton<\/a> was also discussed as a leading contender for the spot, with the South Sydney centre reportedly already "made himself available" to play.<\/p>\n

Despite announcing he would be stepping down from representative commitments last season, Wighton has played a total of 10 games for his state with his versatility on the field – previously playing across multiple positions at Origin – an instrumental factor pushing his case.<\/p>\n

Johns threw Penrith's<\/a> Izack Tago into the mix for a bench spot, saying his flexibility to move into the back row if needed would be a strong asset for the to the side.<\/p>\n

"I always thought Origin is that fast and tough, you need two dummy halves," he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI don't think Kotoni Staggs could play in the back row. I think Tago could.<\/p>\n

Fittler added: "Tago would be good. Or Jack Wighton.\u00a0"<\/p>\n

Fittler, who handed over the reins for the NSW side to Maguire this season after six series with the team, revealed "versality" is the key component.<\/p>\n

"You look at the greats you know, the Ben Hunt's and these sorts of players, you need some versatility," he said.<\/p>\n

"You get four interchanges, and a couple of them have got to be props."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the 2024 State of Origin series set to kick off in just under two months time, questions are beginning to linger about who coach […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":384361,"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\/384359"}],"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=384359"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384365,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384359\/revisions\/384365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/384361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=384359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=384359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=384359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}