{"id":410954,"date":"2024-07-09T22:55:53","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T22:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=410954"},"modified":"2024-07-10T04:09:49","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T04:09:49","slug":"opportunity-for-a-niggle-maroons-plan-b-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=410954","title":{"rendered":"'Opportunity for a niggle': Maroons' Plan B revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maroons<\/a> legend Wally Lewis<\/a> has backed Reed Mahoney's selection in the extended Queensland squad for next week's State of Origin<\/a> decider at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs hooker was chosen as injury cover for Harry Grant<\/a>, who continues to battle a rumoured sternum concern<\/a> that has kept him out of the two Storm games since Origin II.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Wide World of Sports' QLDER<\/em><\/a>, Lewis said Mahoney had done enough to earn selection on merit, but his niggle would be an added bonus in front of a raucous Brisbane crowd if he does make it into the field.<\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Maroons selector spills on reason for shock Fifita snub<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Wimbledon rocked as top men's seed bundled out<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Claims Djokovic spray a 'tactic' amid injury suspicion<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"He'd light that fuse very early … he's a little bit more than annoying in a game," Lewis said.<\/p>\n

"If he does that he's able to upset\u00a0the game plan or an individual's game, he's certainly done the right thing at the right time in the right place."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Maroons selector Darren Lockyer \ufeffsaid Mahoney's priority needed to be on his footy, but said he wouldn't change his natural playing style.<\/p>\n

Mahoney is yet to represent Queensland but is considered the next best hooker behind Grant and starting No.9 Ben Hunt at the state's disposal.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"He's suited to this environment. It would be obviously a step up, but he's the type of player I think is made for this arena," Lockyer said.<\/p>\n

"In front of the home crowd, when they're all on your side, (his niggle) would be part of the entertainment. That's his natural game and I don't think he'd change that.<\/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

\"Maroons<\/p>\n

"His first priority is play footy. Get your game on, play your footy and if there's any opportunity for a niggle … then do that."<\/p>\n

Mahoney's Maroons call up comes after back-to-back golden point victories with the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

"His service out of dummy-half is excellent," Lockyer said.<\/p>\n

"He gets through a mountain of work in defence, cleans up a lot of little things in that ruck area. I think he's got the makings of a good Origin player."<\/p>\n

Origin III is next Wednesday in Brisbane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maroons legend Wally Lewis has backed Reed Mahoney's selection in the extended Queensland squad for next week's State of Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium. The […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":391201,"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\/410954"}],"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=410954"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":410958,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410954\/revisions\/410958"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/391201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=410954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=410954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=410954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}