State of Origin 2024 teams analysis: Michael Maguire’s show of faith in size and power

NSW Blues coach Michael Maguire has come up with a left-field plan to combat an injury statistic which has destroyed several NRL clubs in 2024.

Hudson Young could be used as backline cover. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

NSW is ready to bang down the front door. If things go to plan, the Blues will charge straight through it on their way to a State of Origin series win.

Ask former Bulldogs captain James Graham and it’s a no-brainer. The make-up of the Blues side points to only one thing – they want to turn the opening Origin game into an old-fashioned slugfest.

Survival of not just the fittest but the strongest. If it means you win 8-6, so be it. In fact, 1-0 will do. As long as it is played in the trenches.

NSW coach Michael Maguire played his cards close to his chest when he appeared on Triple M’s Monday Scrum podcast but there was no fooling Graham.

He took one look at a Blues squad overflowing with size and strength, and said Origin I would turn it into a power struggle.

When Payne Haas or Jake Trbojevic need a break, the Blues can turn to Spencer Leniu and Isaac Yeo, or shuffle the decks and move Liam Martin into the middle.

They still have Haumole ­Olakau’atu and Hudson Young up their sleeve. They have size and power in abundance and Graham has no doubt they will try to use it.

The Maroons have opted to go with a more mobile bench, most notably with the decision to save a place in the reserves for Selwyn Cobbo.

Hudson Young could be used as backline cover. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Cobbo will provide cover if they strike injury problems in the backs. Alternatively, he may play the role that was previously occupied by the likes of Cooper Cronk and Kalyn Ponga, coming on in the middle of the field and looking to cause trouble.

Cobbo could be a match­winner. Or he may not get on the field at all. If NSW finds drama in the backs, Maguire will be forced into a makeshift solution. He indicated on Monday that would be Canberra forward Young, a man who he knows well from his time as an assistant coach at the club.

Young has spent time training in the backs, according to Maguire. If he isn’t required there, he will add to the reinforcements in the pack.

Maguire said Origin had shown you needed to look after the middle of the field if you wanted to win.

In the absence of injured pair Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Tom Flegler, Queensland is down on troops and has chosen a more mobile pack with less size on the bench.

The Blues clearly feel they have the edge and have thrown all their interchange eggs into the one basket. They want to overpower the Maroons and their ability to do so may dictate whether they win the all-important opening game of the series.

History has shown that if you win game one, you have one hand on the shield.

“All the Origin games are through the middle,” Graham said.

“I think there is going to be an extra focus from NSW this time around to just completely play in that middle channel of the game … and completely flood it at all costs, even to the expense of potential opportunities being created out wide.

“Play the long game and batter that middle. Make it so difficult. It is not about minutes. It is about having a game plan we all stick to, incredibly disciplined and flood that middle.

“Pepper that middle. Michael Maguire is looking to win this game 8-6.”

Graham was left in no doubt. Maguire did nothing to dissuade him. Origin, he said, has always shown you need to look after the middle. Do that and you create opportunities for the superstars on the flanks.

You just gotta bang down the front door first.