Wayne Bennett says NSW should select Broncos speedster James Roberts for Origin I

WAYNE Bennett says the Blues would be missing out on a good thing if they didn’t give flying centre James Roberts his State of Origin debut.

WAYNE Bennett has urged NSW hierarchy to hand James Roberts his maiden Origin jumper, warning the Broncos speed machine would give Queensland opponents nightmares.

Roberts has one final chance to impress Blues coach Laurie Daley when the NRL’s fastest man returns from injury in tonight’s Broncos-Wests Tigers showdown at Suncorp Stadium.

A former Queensland Origin coach, Bennett is not renowned for giving the Blues too many generous tips, but said if NSW had any selection nous, they would unleash Roberts on the Maroons.

The Origin opener on Wednesday week is at Suncorp Stadium — Roberts’ home patch for the past two seasons — and Bennett was adamant Queensland centres would lose sleep at the thought of marking “The Jet”.

Roberts is the equal-leading tryscorer in the NRL.

“I will tell you what, if he is playing for New South Wales there will be a lot of Queensland players going to bed thinking a lot about him and how they are going to stop him,” he said.

“They (NSW) can put someone else in there, but they (Queensland’s players) won’t be thinking about that bloke.

“That is your biggest fear as a player, it’s the (opponent) you are playing against and what he is going to do you.

“Anyway, that’s NSW’s choice.”

Bennett admits Queensland have reached a critical juncture in their dynasty where coach Kevin Walters must juggle past triumphs with the need to blood fresh talent.

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The Broncos super coach famously blooded seven Queensland rookies in 2001 following a disastrous 3-0 series loss, and he warned Walters not to let the Maroons side get too old.

Walters is set to stick with veteran props Nate Myles and Jacob Lillyman for Origin I, but Bennett says 25-year-old Titans bookend Jarrod Wallace, whom he coached at Brisbane, must wear Maroon.

“I don’t think Jarrod can do much more. He is a pretty competent football player,” Bennett said.

“Jarrod is playing a lot of time and minutes on the Coast and they are winning games against quality teams.

The Broncos flyer has been in top form all season.

“He is playing long minutes, he has a great tackle technique, he will never fail you defensively, he carries the ball well and no-one says he’s not tough.

“It’s a tough one in the sense that are you thinking about the future or are you thinking about today?

“Queensland have to start thinking about the future with that Origin side because there are a lot of issues there.

“Queensland are in a great position to do that, they are not under pressure to win a series, we know there is a generation change happening.

“It’s whether you control that or you let it get out of control and all of a sudden you are trying to play catch-up.

“I know what the best position is and playing catch-up is not the best position.”