State of Origin 2018: Josh McGuire believes NSW will start with Jake Trbojevic in the middle for game two
HAVING lost Reagan Campbell-Gillard, NSW are looking for a new starting prop. But Queensland forward Josh McGuire has his suspicions about the Blues’ front row.
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JOSH McGuire is suspicious that NSW will start with Jake Trbojevic in the middle regardless of which 17-man team they name for Sunday’s State of Origin rematch.
NSW have lost a starting prop, Reagan Campbell-Gillard (broken jaw), from their winning Game One side and will choose between Shark Matt Prior, Dragon Tariq Sims or Titan Ryan James for a place in their team.
“I reckon they might start Jake Trbjovic at front row, with (Jack) De Belin as the other ruckies with (David) Klemmer,’’ McGuire said.
“It’s not ideal for them (to have Campbell-Gillard unavailable) but they have a wealth of riches there and I’m sure whoever they pick will do a good job for them.
“We need to do our job on them. We have to tackle better. It’s a matter of being cleaner and dominating the ruck.’’
The durable Trbojevic, an interchange player in all four of his Origin appearances, has a good engine, averaging 77 minutes a game for Manly, with 13.3 carries for 117 run metres a game and 37 tackles.
A start for Trbojevic would also increase NSW’s variety with the ball among the dummy-half darts of Damien Cook.
While no NSW forward was credited with a line break in Origin I, Cook’s dummy-half run beat two Queensland forwards in the lead-up to James Tedesco’s opening try.
“He (Cook) is a just a very fast football player. He causes a lot of problems around the ruck in all his games this year,’’ McGuire said.
“It’s about us as a unit being tidier and not giving players like him and Tedesco too many chances to exploit.
“We have to win over 80 minutes. We will give no excuses and hope to get the result.
“Origin is won on small things and we didn’t execute our small things well enough.’’
Queensland’s forwards go into Origin II knowing they had periods in the second half when they were going better than their opponents, especially in the impact of their defence.
“There was a real arm wrestle between the two teams and there were signs of what we could do if we make those improvements,’’ McGuire said.
“They took advantage of their opportunities in the game better than we did.’’
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