{"id":396578,"date":"2024-05-23T21:02:23","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T21:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=396578"},"modified":"2024-05-23T22:05:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T22:05:23","slug":"teddy-axed-from-radical-blues-17-ahead-of-ambush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=396578","title":{"rendered":"Teddy axed from 'radical' Blues 17 ahead of 'ambush'"},"content":{"rendered":"

An ambush in game one in Sydney is the Blues<\/a>' only hope of wrestling the State of Origin<\/a> trophy away from Queensland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With game two on neutral turf in Melbourne and the finale in the cauldron of Brisbane, the Blues will be a lost cause if they don't take the honours in Sydney.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, I've picked a radical team, with major changes to the side that hasn't been able to beat the Maroons in recent series.<\/p>\n

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It's time to roll the dice – and the biggest gamble is Raiders rookie Ethan Strange.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The dynamic 19-year-old has played only a handful of top grade games but is the form five-eighth in the premiership.<\/p>\n

He's aggressive and fearless – two attributes that will suit him well at Origin level.<\/p>\n

The experienced Nicho Hynes will be there for guidance and once Strange gets over the early nerves, he has the class to rip and tear.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The safe option at six would be Panther Jarome Luai – but the safe option hasn't worked for the Blues in the past.<\/p>\n

Another player with a similar 'take no prisoners' approach is Sharks centre Jesse Ramien and to me, he's a better option than an out-of-form Latrell Mitchell.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

James Tedesco has lifted his game in recent weeks but Dylan Edwards has been great for the past three years for Penrith – his time has come.<\/p>\n

In the pack, the time is right to blood Manly powerhouse Haumole Olakau'atu and Warriors big man Mitch Barnett – both have plenty of NRL experience and are ready for the next level.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of options at hooker but Api Koroisau is a fine dummy-half who will get the team going forward.<\/p>\n

Angus Crichton is in career-best form for the Roosters and would bring spark and enthusiasm from the bench.<\/p>\n

The Mole's NSW State of Origin team\ufeff<\/h3>\n

1.<\/strong> Dylan Edwards 2.<\/strong> Brian To'o 3.<\/strong> Stephen Crichton 4.<\/strong> Jesse Ramien 5.<\/strong> Zac Lomax\ufeff 6.<\/strong> Ethan Strange 7.<\/strong> Nicho Hynes 8.<\/strong> Payne Haas 9.<\/strong> Api Koroisau 10.<\/strong> Jake Trbojevic 11.<\/strong> Liam Martin 12.<\/strong> Hudson Young 13.<\/strong> Isaah Yeo 14.<\/strong> Mitch Barnett 15.<\/strong> Spencer Leniu 16.<\/strong> Haumole Olakau'atu 17.<\/strong> Angus Crichton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An ambush in game one in Sydney is the Blues' only hope of wrestling the State of Origin trophy away from Queensland. With game two […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":386384,"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\/396578"}],"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=396578"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396581,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396578\/revisions\/396581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/386384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=396578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=396578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=396578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}