NSW Blues should take a State of Origin punt on Nathan Merritt, says Hazem El Masri

HAZEM El Masri became the Blues' oldest Origin debutant in 2007, and he sees similarities in the plight of Nathan Merritt.

ONE wing spot, the five-eighth and how to find the right balance on the bench are the only things NSW coach Laurie Daley is still mulling over ahead of Sunday's squad naming for State of Origin game one.

Daley's 17-man squad appears to be all but sorted but some question marks remain around who will partner Canberra's Blake Ferguson on the wing, and whether the No.6 jersey will go to incumbent Todd Carney or in-form Sydney Rooster James Maloney.

St George Illawarra's Brett Morris is the front-runner for the remaining wing spot, where he would likely play outside of twin brother Josh Morris from Canterbury who will form a centre pairing with Michael Jennings.

But a knee injury has forced Morris to miss the past two Dragons fixtures, and he's in extreme doubt for Saturday night's clash with Penrith.

The 26-year-old trained lightly this week, completing running exercises from Wednesday away from the main group in a bid to prove his recovery was on track.

But Daley is not willing to take injured players into camp, preferring to have his full squad about to train from day one.

That re-opens the door for South Sydney's Nathan Merritt, forgotten Newcastle winger Akuila Uate and Manly youngster Jorge Taufua.

Merritt's push has been a long time coming with the 29-year-old crossing for his 147th NRL try last weekend, and he has a fan in Bulldogs champion Hazem El Masri.

El Masri became the Blues' oldest State of Origin debutant in 2007 when, at 31, he scored a try and kicked three goals in an 18-4 victory.

And the NRL's all-time leading pointscorer can see similarities in how long he had to wait for his one and only NSW jersey, and the similar predicament facing Merritt who has been overlooked often for centres being played out of position.

"It's good to get a specialist winger to play there,'' El Masri said.

"I think he'd do a wonderful job. He can sniff a try out of nowhere. His record speaks for itself.''

Merritt has often admitted he felt his time had passed and that he'd given up on any representative aspirations - an admission El Masri recognised all too well.

"I know exactly how he feels. It was the same thing with me,'' he said.

"All he can do is play footy. That's the only answer he's got.

"Hopefully he can keep proving them wrong until he gets an opportunity. Because you just don't want to give them any more reasons not to choose you.

"It's sad in a way that I only got one game, but it was the best game of my life.''

Daley is understood to have locked in captain Paul Gallen at prop, alongside Test front-rower James Tamou and Wests Tigers' skipper Robbie Farah.

That leaves a backrow of Luke Lewis, Anthony Watmough and Greg Bird, while the bench utility role is likely to be handed to former Blues skipper Kurt Gidley.

The remaining three spots will include Cronulla's powerful young prop Andrew Fifita and Melbourne's Ryan Hoffman, as well as another mobile front-rower, with St George Illawarra's Trent Merrin and the Tigers' Aaron Woods in front.