State of Origin 2018: Cronulla prop Matt Prior to replace Ryan James in NSW squad for Origin II
IT’S heartbreak for luckless Ryan James but Blues bolter Matt Prior has achieved a boyhood dream by being parachuted into the NSW front-row by coach Brad Fittler.
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WHEN Matt Prior was first told he had been chosen in the NSW Origin squad, the humble Cronulla forward thought it was a prank.
“I walked into the dressing room last Saturday night after our game and our (Sharks) CEO Barry Russell said ‘congratulations, you’ve made the extended Origin squad’,’’ Prior said.
“I didn’t believe him. I was looking at him thinking, ‘If that’s a joke … that’s not really that funny’. Even after he said ‘it isn’t a joke’, it took a while to sink in.’’
Origin is as much about footy’s battle lines as it is the theatre, the people and the yarns.
Last night, Prior proudly entered Origin folklore by becoming one of the game’s greatest bolters — even in his own eyes.
“It’s all very special, I’m sure it will hit me when I run out there,” Prior said.
Blues coach Brad Fittler made one of his “toughest calls”, to again overlook luckless Gold Coast forward Ryan James and go with Prior as Regan Campbell-Gillard’s (jaw) replacement in the NSW front-row for Origin II on Sunday night.
“Matty Prior plays a lot like Regan Campbell-Gillard and so we thought that would help us and the side,” Fittler said.
“I’m really excited for him - he’s a 31 year old bloke who gets to play his first game and he won’t let anyone down.”
At 31, the Sharks’ Player of the Year in 2016 will become the fourth-oldest NSW debutant in Origin history.
Tony Butterfield remains the oldest Blue at 32.
Prior’s initial inclusion alongside James — as the two options to replace the injured Reagan Campbell-Gillard — was met with shock.
But ever since, the chat from within the NSW hierarchy has been that Prior, the two-time premiership winner, would be favoured to run out in front of 84,000 fans.
Which is undeniably a factor in his proposed selection.
“Matty has won two grand finals in front of sold-out crowds at ANZ Stadium, he’s played in the biggest games a footballer can play in and he’s not only handled the occasion, he’s stepped up,’’ Fox Sports commentator and former teammate Michael Ennis said.
“He has size and he’s tough. But more importantly, he has the temperament for Origin.’’
Prior edging out James may surprise some, but not those with whom he comes into contact.
“I love Matt Prior,’’ former NSW forward and Sharks teammate Luke Lewis said.
“He’s made for Origin, to the point where I’d start him on Sunday night
“He’ll rip in for you. He’ll turn up on every play.
“He can play 80 minutes and, put it this way, whenever I hear that Matty might be in doubt for us (Cronulla) in a club game, my shoulders drop just that little bit. Because I know it’s going to be just that little bit harder today without Matty in the side.’’
Lewis’s insight into Prior’s value is telling, yet so too was the Blues’ first official training session yesterday.
Completing the entire 75-minute session at a rain-soaked and freezing Moore Park, Prior handled his first run in Blue in the same unaffected way he has displayed for the majority of his decade-long NRL career with St George Illawarra and now Cronulla.
Prior rounded off yesterday’s session by wrestling fellow pack men David Klemmer and Tariq Sims.
“Not too many players beat Matty at wrestling,’’ former NSW captain and Cronulla teammate Paul Gallen said. “He’s one of the strongest there is.”
Perhaps most notably, though, was that James — with strapping around his knee — jumped in and out of selected parts of the Kippax Lake run through.
Fittler watched the entire session intently from behind the goalposts as assistant Danny Buderus drove the Blues through the rain.
Prior trained like he didn’t ever want to leave and was emotional when told of his selection in the side last night.