NSW nearly lost Cleary and Moses to injury. Who are the halves next in line?

NSW coaching staff planned to move Connor Watson into the halves for Origin II had Nathan Cleary broken down with a groin injury early in the game.

Cleary injured his adductor while practising goal-kicking at Tuesday’s captain’s run, and was only passed fit to start after the warm-up on Wednesday night.

The Blues spent 24 hours privately agonising over whether to play it safe by scratching Cleary and bringing in 18th man Matt Burton.

If they had played Cleary and the gamble backfired, No.14 Watson would have moved to five-eighth and Jarome Luai gone to halfback.

Before Origin I, NSW were almost spoiled for choice with halves, with Luai and Moses in a two-way battle to partner Cleary.

But after Moses went down with a calf injury at training last week, ruling him out of Wednesday’s 26-24 loss to the Maroons and game three on July 9, Cleary’s scare on the eve of the match suddenly had the Blues brains trust looking for options beyond their “big three” halves.

Who would be the next NSW playmaker if there is a fresh injury to Nathan Cleary or Jarome Luai?Credit: Stephen Kiprillis/SMH

So what if Luai or Cleary goes down between now and then? The smart money would be on simply promoting Burton, who has spent five games as 18th man for NSW, to play five-eighth.

All three have played together in clubland, but a Luai-Burton combination would throw two left-footers together and force one of them to defend on the right.

Isaiya Katoa continues to earn rave reviews for his displays at the Dolphins, especially as the club has run up some big scores in recent weeks.

Immortal Andrew Johns has publicly praised Katoa on several occasions for the way he plays straight and regularly digs into the line, already anointing him Cleary’s long-term NSW No.7 successor.

Dolphins halfback Isaiya Katoa.Credit: Getty Images

When asked about the 21-year-old being parachuted into Origin III at Accor Stadium in the event of any fresh injuries, Johns said on Nine’s Immortal Behaviour: “Katoa is special. I worry about his age. He’d handle it, but you don’t want to burn him too early. Coming in with the series on the line is a lot of pressure. [Queenslander] Tom Dearden got it done coming into game two … [but] on the back of eight [first-half] penalties.”

NSW coach Laurie Daley is also a fan of Katoa, but it is unlikely he would throw a 21-year-old in for his Origin debut in an all-or-nothing decider.

Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf has worked with Katoa for several years, including with the Tongan Test team, and while he knows Katoa is in wonderful form he is also mindful of keeping a lid on the hype.

“He’s an exceptional young man, I love the way he carries himself, the way he goes about his work in terms of wanting to be the best player he can be – and how hard he works at that – and his calm nature,” Woolf said.

“He’s calm around the club, he’s calm on the field, and that’s why he’s getting better each week.”

New Zealand Warriors playmaker Luke Metcalf is enjoying a breakout season and currently sits in the top half of contenders in the Dally M race, but was struggling with what looked like a quad injury in the late stages of yesterday’s defeat to Penrith. Like Katoa, he would find it a big ask to play his first Origin game with everything at stake.

The same line of thinking would also be why Canterbury recruit Lachie Galvin would not be considered, even though he is a future Blue in the making.

Broncos captain Adam Reynolds has played Origin in the past and was just last week weighing up a move to the Tigers, where he would have joined Luai.

Thankfully for the Blues and Daley, Cleary, Burton and Luai will have all finished their NRL commitments by next Friday night. Hopefully, this debate is not being had this time next week.

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Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.