{"id":61562,"date":"2021-04-22T13:22:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T13:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=61562"},"modified":"2021-04-22T14:57:36","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T14:57:36","slug":"johns-shock-tip-for-clearys-nsw-halves-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=61562","title":{"rendered":"Johns' shock tip for Cleary's NSW halves partner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns has thrown up superstar Manly fullback Tom Trbojevic<\/a> as a radical option for the NSW Blues' No.6 jersey.<\/p>\n

That's despite the fact the multimillion-dollar Sea Eagle has never played at five-eighth with Manly and has only ever lined up on a wing and in the centres in State of Origin footy.<\/p>\n

Dally M medallist James Tedesco has donned the No.1 jersey in every one of Trbojevic's Origin appearances since he made his debut in game one of the 2018 series.<\/p>\n

But Trbojevic has starred elsewhere in the backline, even bagging a hat-trick at Perth's Optus Stadium in game two of the 2019 series.<\/p>\n

While prodigious Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary is a certainty to continue in the No.7 jumper, coach Brad Fittler's choice of the Panther's halves partner remains unclear.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Champion Roosters playmaker Luke Keary won't feature in this year's series due to his long-term knee injury, but Fittler could opt for incumbent Blues five-eighth Cody Walker of the Rabbitohs, Raiders weapon Jack Wighton, Panthers young gun Jarome Luai or, in Johns' eyes, even Trbojevic.<\/p>\n

\"Immortal<\/p>\n

"Turbo will be there in some position. We all know Tedesco will be fullback, but Turbo can play anywhere," Johns said on Wide World of Sports' Immortal Behaviour<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"If you had the right halfback Turbo as a five-eighth would be out of this world.<\/p>\n

"In Origin you need big, running five-eighths. NSW over the years: (Brad) Fittler, (Laurie) Daley, (Braith) Anasta, Trent Barrett.<\/p>\n

"You let Nathan do it all. He organises everything and then you have Turbo as a running five-eighth, but also with his ball-playing and him and Tedesco working together. Wow. It's endless what you could do there."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When asked by host Danika Mason if it was a concern that Trbojevic and Cleary hadn't ever played in the halves together, Johns said the task would be simple.<\/p>\n

Cleary has led Penrith to 24 regular-season wins in a row, which includes eight home victories on the trot.<\/p>\n

And experts are now comparing Trbojevic to some of the greatest game-changers in history, such as Johns, Johnathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer, after his masterclass in Mudgee last Saturday.<\/p>\n

Manly hadn't won a game over the first five rounds of the season and had even been belted by 40 points or more twice, but the return of Trbojevic from a hamstring strain transformed the Sea Eagles for their clash with the Titans.<\/p>\n

Trbojevic was at his scintillating best as Manly romped to a 36-0 victory.<\/p>\n

So talented are Cleary and Trbojevic that Johns doesn't believe they need to have played together in the halves in order to thrive in State of Origin footy.<\/p>\n

"Nathan just runs the show and Turbo just plays," Johns said.<\/p>\n

"If you see space you just run."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns has thrown up superstar Manly fullback Tom Trbojevic as a radical option for the NSW Blues' No.6 jersey. That's despite […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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\/61562"}],"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=61562"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61564,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61562\/revisions\/61564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}