{"id":63612,"date":"2021-04-27T00:47:13","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T00:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=63612"},"modified":"2021-04-27T03:58:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T03:58:00","slug":"sterlo-picks-two-young-panthers-for-blues-debuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=63612","title":{"rendered":"Sterlo picks two young Panthers for Blues debuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

NSW legend Peter Sterling says Penrith Panthers<\/a> dynamo Brian To'o<\/a> should be called up for his Blues debut in this year's State of Origin<\/a> opener, thanks to his "irresistible" form.<\/p>\n

Daniel Tupou and Josh Addo-Carr are the Blues' incumbent wingers but To'o and fit-again Manly superstar Tom Trbojevic are applying enormous pressure. Trbojevic has been so impressive that it's a matter of where in the backline, not if, he's selected.<\/p>\n

To'o has played a pivotal role in the Panthers' unbeaten start to the season, crossing for four tries, racking up a league-high 247 metres per match and tallying a competition-high 55 tackle breaks.<\/p>\n

Sterling said the 22-year-old should be a member of coach Brad Fittler's 17.<\/p>\n

\"Sterlo's<\/p>\n

"His efforts coming out of, especially his own end, but also to get the ball over at the other end – it's almost irresistible," Sterling said on Wide World of Sports' Sterlo's Wrap<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

"It's unusual compared to the Origin wingers we've seen in the past. Last year Daniel Tupou was there for all three games … This guy has a different stature and build to the other wingers going around, but he is so effective.<\/p>\n

"He ran for over 300 metres on the weekend … Those are crazy stats.<\/p>\n

"He's a try-scorer also. You get him five, 10 metres out, he's going to get across. He's acrobatic, he finds a way to score. So I think he's going to feature."<\/p>\n

Three Panthers featured in last year's State of Origin series in halfback Nathan Cleary (NSW), forward Isaah Yeo (NSW) and utility Kurt Capewell (Queensland).<\/p>\n

And Sterling said not only To'o but Penrith prop Moses Leota could be handed a Blues jersey this year.<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/p>\n

Leota has shared a front row with enforcer James Fisher-Harris and the pair have provided Penrith extraordinary grunt in the middle.<\/p>\n

"I think this guy – he's straight up and down but he keeps coming at you," Sterling said.<\/p>\n

"I would think Daniel Saifiti and Junior Paulo are probably shoo-ins if they're fit and healthy come Origin selection. Payne Haas is in there as well.<\/p>\n

"But this guy (Leota) might just be the bolter. He was mentioned last year. He might just be the bolter this year.<\/p>\n

"His form is better now than what it was last year when he was in the sights of selectors."<\/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 clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NSW legend Peter Sterling says Penrith Panthers dynamo Brian To'o should be called up for his Blues debut in this year's State of Origin opener, […]<\/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\/63612"}],"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=63612"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63614,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63612\/revisions\/63614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}