{"id":399864,"date":"2024-06-04T08:39:28","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T08:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=399864"},"modified":"2024-06-04T09:04:26","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T09:04:26","slug":"on-pause-luai-reveals-major-absence-in-blues-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=399864","title":{"rendered":"'On pause': Luai reveals major absence in Blues camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

J\ufeffarome Luai<\/a> has emerged as one of the key figures for the NSW Blues<\/a> in the State of Origin opener – and without his trademark boombox.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old was recalled to the side in the midst of an injury crisis for game one. He will partner Cronulla star Nicho Hynes<\/a> in a new-look halves combination.<\/p>\n

Luai was named among the leadership group for the Blues by new coach Michael Maguire<\/a>, despite being axed less than a year ago after back-to-back series losses.\ufeff<\/p>\n

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Speaking to 9News Sydney \ufeff<\/em>during camp, the polarising Penrith five-eighth said the fire to perform at Origin level was still inside him after last year's setback.<\/p>\n

"It didn't hurt – I don't want to say that I felt it coming, but once the series losses start to come, you sort of feel like it's someone else's turn," Luai said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"Coming into this year, it was always the goal of mine to get back in this jersey. I'm so motivated and passionate about getting it right.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"There are always gonna be doubts from critics and things like that, but it's all outside noise to me … I've always known I've been capable."<\/p>\n

Luai helped his state to a series win in 2021 alongside club teammate Nathan Cleary, but will be forced to step up this year without the NRL's elite playmaker, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 State of Origin series exclusively live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Missing from this camp, which saw the squad travel to the Blue Mountains instead of their usual Coogee base, was Luai's music choices and boombox speaker.<\/p>\n

"It's time to talk and tell our community and the people of NSW how much this means to us," he explained.<\/p>\n

"I've put it on pause, but I'll put it on play again soon. Madge is big on culture."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In recent years, the large personalities from the successful Penrith system – headlined by Luai, Stephen Crichton and Brian To'o – have dominated the energy and vibe in the Blues locker room, but many have taken aim at the trio for their antics.<\/p>\n

Former coach and NSW legend Laurie Daley<\/a> believes the move from Luai was designed to bring the group together and make sure the entire squad feel at home.<\/p>\n

"You've got to make sure everyone is comfortable," he said on Big Sports Breakfast.<\/p>\n

"One thing Madge has really instilled in this team, from what I've been hearing and seeing – they're talking about this is NSW. It's not their club sides, it's not Australia."<\/p>\n

The opener kicks off on Wednesday night at Accor Stadium. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

J\ufeffarome Luai has emerged as one of the key figures for the NSW Blues in the State of Origin opener – and without his trademark […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":399866,"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\/399864"}],"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=399864"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":399869,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399864\/revisions\/399869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/399866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=399864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=399864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=399864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}