{"id":393520,"date":"2024-05-13T22:10:12","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T22:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=393520"},"modified":"2024-05-13T23:05:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T23:05:01","slug":"gallen-backtracks-on-radical-blues-halves-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=393520","title":{"rendered":"Gallen backtracks on radical Blues halves pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

P\ufeffaul Gallen<\/a> has thrown a curveball into the NSW selection debate, pushing for Penrith star Jarome Luai<\/a> to be recalled to the side for the State of Origin opener.<\/p>\n

An injury crisis has hit the Blues with less than a month until the series begins, with key names out of action as they search for their first series victory since 2021.<\/p>\n

Nathan Cleary<\/a> and Tom Trbojevic<\/a> will be unavailable for the entire series, opening up spots in the backline, while the absence of Cameron Murray<\/a> will also hurt NSW.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Gould grills Roosters over $3.3m Fifita deal\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Knights probed over potential salary cap breach<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Moses cops Origin blow as comeback put on ice<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mitchell Moses<\/a> would have been a likely option to play in the halves, but hasn't featured in the NRL since round three due to a fractured foot and will only have 80 minutes to prove himself to coach Michael Maguire<\/a> before the team is named.<\/p>\n

Nicho Hynes<\/a> and Matt Burton<\/a> have been spoken about as potential solutions in the halves – but according to former captain Gallen, it might be time to go back to a proven match-winner in big games from the Panthers.<\/p>\n

Gallen had floated a Moses-Hynes combination in his Wide World of Sports column on Monday<\/a>, \ufeffbefore Moses was ruled out for the Eels' round 11 clash.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I think Luai [should be picked]," he said on Nine's 100% Footy.<\/em><\/p>\n

"Luai is going well, he's a good player – I think Luai and Nicho in the halves would be good. Nicho plays on the right-hand side of the field \u2026 he plays all over the park when it comes to the Sharks. Luai obviously likes the left-hand side of the field.<\/p>\n

"I think Moses would have to play good and one game, I don't know if that's enough. If he had two games under his belt, you probably wouldn't question it."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Women's State of Origin series, starting Thursday May 16\ufeff on Nine and <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Luai featured in the 2021 series win for the Blues, but his performances last year in the five-eighth role saw him axed for the dead rubber, with Moses coming into the side to partner Cody Walker and steering NSW to victory.<\/p>\n

Phil Gould<\/a> agreed with Gallen's idea of playing Luai in the No.6 jumper but is leaning towards Moses at halfback.<\/p>\n

"I think they can work it out if that's what they've got to do," he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"We've still got 23 days to go, so I don't think we have to decide it today \u2026 anything could happen in that time.<\/p>\n

"As for picking a player who hasn't been playing at club level – if you think they are an Origin class player, I don't think it matters.<\/p>\n

"He might be the best available – he probably would be. Moses and Luai?<\/p>\n

"The one thing I'm saying is, you are going to be shocked \u2026 this is going to be out of left-field. You're not going to predict this team. I'm not gonna be surprised."<\/p>\n

The series will kick off on June 5 at Sydney's Accor Stadium. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

P\ufeffaul Gallen has thrown a curveball into the NSW selection debate, pushing for Penrith star Jarome Luai to be recalled to the side for the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":354307,"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\/393520"}],"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=393520"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":393523,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393520\/revisions\/393523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/354307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=393520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=393520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=393520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}