State of Origin 2021: NSW Blues team news, Stefano Utoikamanu, Clint Gutherson added
NSW coach Brad Fittler has sprung the selection shock of the series, adding Clint Gutherson and an NRL rookie to his injury-hit squad.
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Coach Brad Fittler has pulled s selection surprise, adding Wests Tigers rookie prop Stefano Utoikamanu to his NSW squad for State of Origin III as the Blues attempt to complete a series whitewash over Queensland.
The Blues have also added Parramatta Eels skipper and fullback Clint Gutherson as the team prepares to move the squad to Kingscliff on the NSW north coast.
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Being based away from Sydney was the only solution to strict Victorian government restrictions that would have required Melbourne Storm players to spend 14 days in quarantine had they been based in the Harbour City.
The Blues have decided to pick Utoikamanu and Gutherson because neither of their club sides play this weekend.
Utoikamanu has played only 16 NRL games - 13 of them this season for the Tigers - after transferring from the Parramatta Eels.
Interestingly, the 21-year-old was born in Auckland but qualifies for Origin because he moved to Australia prior to his 13th birthday.
Gutherson played in the centres for the Blues in last year’s 2-1 series loss to the Maroons, and will be the fifth current starting NRL fullback in the NSW squad, joining captain James Tedesco, centres Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic and reserve Nicho Hynes.
The Blues have already won the series after beating the Maroons 50-6 in game one in Townsville before a 26-0 shutout in Brisbane a week ago.
Blues cop blow with top prop out
NSW prop Daniel Saifiti has been ruled out of State of Origin III with a rib injury.
The Blues coaching staff will hold an emergency meeting this morning to confirm Melbourne’s Dale Finucane as his replacement.
Earlier, Fittler had to temporarily postpone a Zoom meeting with media representatives to take a call from NSW doctor, Nathan Gibbs, about Saifiti’s injury.
Finucane was originally named as 18th man with Fittler now searching for a new reserve.
The Blues are already without halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai through injury.
Moses joins Wighton in the halves
He fended off a late rabbit punch to finally become a NSW State of Origin player.
Parramatta halfback Mitchell Moses — after an eight-year wait — has finally fulfilled his destiny after being named in NSW’s side for State of Origin III on July 14.
Unofficially pencilled in as NSW halfback last Friday, Moses endured an anxious wait as South Sydney’s Adam Reynolds put forward a stellar late claim for selection against Wests Tigers on Sunday.
NSW’s coaching staff deliberated long and hard over naming Reynolds and South Sydney teammate Cody Walker as starting halves.
But after considerable debate, Moses prevailed as injured Nathan Cleary’s replacement with Canberra’s Jack Wighton shifting from bench player to starting five-eighth to replace Jarome Luai (knee).
That means Penrith’s Api Koroisau has been named to make his NSW debut off the bench for the Origin dead rubber at a venue yet to be announced. And in another surprise selection, Melbourne’s Nicho Hynes was named as 19th man.
“Mitch let me know this afternoon that he got the call up and I rang him straight away — I was so happy for him,” said NSW skipper, James Tedesco.
Moses, 26, will enter camp with his new NSW teammates on Tuesday morning.
Some felt Moses may have blown his chances by missing a late match-winning penalty goal for Parramatta against Penrith on Friday night.
“Moses is a good game manager and goal kicker,” said former NSW halfback Brett Kimmorley.
Moses, who possesses a kicking game many rate the equal of Cleary, has a staunch ally in NSW coach Brad Fittler, the pair combining for Lebanon in the 2017 World Cup.
Asked about Moses, Parramatta great Peter Sterling said: “It’s his time.”
Reynolds and Walker pushed hard for selection and would have become Souths’ first starting halves for NSW since Col Donohoe and Johnny Dougherty way back in 1956.
Koroisau was 18th man for Origin I and II but has now been given his first NSW cap.
Hynes’ selection is extraordinary given he’s only become a regular starter with Melbourne Storm since star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen was cut down by concussion sustained back in Magic Round.
The NRL is expected to announce a venue for the match on Monday with Newcastle the clear favourite.
NSW will enter camp on the NSW Central Coast on Tuesday before travelling to the venue city next Tuesday.
The rampant Blues have already claimed the series after winning the first two games by a combined score of 76-6.
Queensland will name their team on Monday with Newcastle’s Kalyn Ponga to be rushed back into the struggling Maroons side.
NSW’S ORIGIN III TEAM: 1 James Tedesco (c) 2 Brian To’o 3 Latrell Mitchell 4 Tom Trbojevic 5 Josh Addo-Carr 6 Jack Wighton 7 Mitchell Moses 8 Daniel Saifiti** 9 Damien Cook 10 Junior Paulo 11 Cameron Murray 12 Tariq Sims 13 Isaah Yeo 14 Apisai Koroisau 15 Angus Crichton 16 Payne Haas 17 Liam Martin 18th man: Dale Finucane 19th man: Nicho Hynes. Reserves: Clint Gutherson, Stefano Utoikamanu
**: Daniel Saifiti has been ruled out, with Dale Finucane his likely replacement. An 18th man is yet to be named
Blues halfback contender with ‘no weaknesses’
Adam Reynolds could be firming for his first Origin jersey in five years and the Rabbitohs halfback received a ringing endorsement from coach Wayne Bennett who claimed his skipper had “no weaknesses in his game”.
With Nathan Cleary ruled out with a shoulder injury, Reynolds is one of a host of contenders to partner Jarome Luai at the scrumbase in Origin III.
Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses was considered the frontrunner heading into the weekend but his missed penalty goal in the Eels’ loss to Penrith on Friday night may have thrown the race wide open.
“He’d bring great stability, he’d stick to the game plan and help everyone else play well - what he does here for us,” Bennett said.
“There’s no weaknesses in his game. He’s got a great kicking game and he can pick up where Cleary left off, it’d be a pretty natural fit. Defensively he’s strong.”
Reynolds has two Origin appearances to his credit, both from the 2016 series, and has been in good form for Souths.
He’ll skipper the side against Wests Tigers on Sunday in the final match of the round before Brad Fittler names his squad for the dead rubber.
At 30, the Blues may be looking for a younger option but the Brisbane-bound playmaker’s kicking game and ability to organise, not to mention his combination with fellow Blue Bunnies Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Murray and Damien Cook, make him an attractive option.
“I don’t know what they’re looking at. It’s a different game now and they’ll still want to win it and they’ll be putting every effort in to win it,” Bennett said.
“But it depends what they’re looking for, they might be looking for something for the future.
“But Adam Reynolds will not let anybody down. Everyone knows how he plays and has seen him play, so it’s up to them now.”
Bennett himself did not rule out the possibility of an Origin comeback — the supercoach will leave the Rabbitohs at season’s end and would be an ideal candidate to take up the clipboard should Maroons coach Paul Green face the axe.
With 22 games to his name as coach, including last year’s backs against the wall series victory as heavy underdogs, Bennett would be an ideal candidate to shepherd a new generation of Maroons stars.
“I’m at a stage where all the doors are open. I have no idea what the future holds for me in rugby league at the moment,” Bennett said.
“I think I have a future somewhere, I just have to see how it all unfolds. I’m not worried about it.
“At the end of the season I’ll look at what options are around, what the possibilities are for me and where I think I can make a difference, and if I can then I’ll make the next decision.”
Blues hit with fresh Origin injury blow
NSW will rely on an untested halves pairing to create State of Origin history following the shock withdrawal of injured Penrith five-eighth Jarome Luai.
Having begun the week confronted by the reality of selecting a new halfback to replace Nathan Cleary (shoulder), Blues coach Brad Fittler has been left to also cover the loss of Luai, who is out of the series with a knee injury.
The Blues are attempting to claim the first Origin series 3-0 nil clean-sweep since 2000 - a task made all the more difficult by the double-injury blow.
Scans have revealed Luai suffered a medial ligament injury in his left knee during the Panthers win over the Eels.
Luai will be required to wear a brace for at least the next week and the Blues coaching staff were unwilling to carry the 24-year-old into camp in the hope that he proves his fitness in time for kick-off.
Blues senior advisor Greg Alexander confirmed Luai was out of calculations with Raiders pivot Jack Wighton his replacement, providing he came through unscathed from Canberra’s clash with the Gold Coast on Saturday night.
“He won’t play. Jarome’s no chance of playing. It’s very disappointing,” Alexander told Fox League.
“We need a new halfback, a new five-eight, which will be Jack Wighton, so now we need a new 14.”
Wighton is likely to partner Eels halfback Mitchell Moses with South Sydney’s Adam Reynolds, also under consideration.
“I watched Mitch [Moses] last night; from my point of view, he did a really good job, got them out of trouble,” Fittler said on Triple M.
“If he doesn’t play and his kicking game isn’t that good then Parramatta needed to score four tries [to win], I think.
“His kicking game was fantastic. It was unfortunate that he didn’t get that goal at the end but it is what it is.”
Either way, a Wighton-Moses, or Wighton-Reynolds halves combination is one the Blues have never experienced.
Wighton has played seven games for NSW - five times at centre and twice from the bench.
The Blues search for key replacements emerged in the wake of another issue ahead of the July 14 clash.
The Melbourne Storm held urgent talks on Saturday with the NRL over concerns they could be stripped of their State of Origin stars due to a nervous Victorian Government.
The Victorian Government is unwilling to provide a written guarantee to the NRL that Melbourne-based Origin players including Josh Addo-Carr, Dale Finucane, Cameron Munster, Christian Welch and Felise Kaufusi will be allowed to skip 14-days of quarantine upon their return from Origin III.
The Government have only indicated to the NRL and Storm that the players will be exempt - but won’t document the promise in writing.
Despite bidding for Origin III at AAMI Park, the Victorian Government are reserving their right to withdraw any exemption should a Covid-19 spike in either NSW or Victoria.
It has left Storm officials nervous that their biggest names could be forced to isolate and ruled out of the NRL competition for up to two weeks after State of Origin III.
The Storm have been told by the NRL that they must release their players.
The entire NRL and both the NSW and Queensland State of Origin teams are operating under strict Level-4 Covid-19 protocols.
An NRL spokesman confirmed discussions with the Victorian government are ongoing.
“Like last season, our players are in strict biosecurity bubbles to ensure the health and safety of our communities,” a spokesman said.
“We are working closely with all governments to ensure the same exemptions as last year apply and we are very confident they will.”
The NSW team will set-up their Origin III camp at Magenta Shores on the Central Coast while Queensland will reside on the Gold Coast ahead of the July 14 fixture.
The Origin stars will have no contact with the public and will only leave their team hotel to train.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo was yesterday weighing-up a host of alternative options in the unlikely scenario that the Victorian Government ordered the Melbourne-based Origin players into quarantine.
Abdo has told the Storm and has vowed to ensure that no team loses players due to quarantine measures related to border control.
One option is to relocate the entire Storm franchise out of Victoria -possibly to the Sunshine Coast - for a short-stint after Origin III and ahead of their next clash against Newcastle in round 18.
In a developing story, the issue for the Storm isn’t when their Origin stars leave to join their NSW and Queensland counterparts, it’s when they return.
Currently sailing alone on top of the NRL ladder, the Storm won’t consider playing without their biggest names.
The NRL has booked a charter flight from Melbourne to pick-up the Storm players and drop them to their respective Origin camps in NSW and Queensland.
Fittler will name his NSW squad for Origin III on Sunday night.
Originally published as State of Origin 2021: NSW Blues team news, Stefano Utoikamanu, Clint Gutherson added
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