By Christian Nicolussi
Blues officials will closely monitor Stephen Crichton on Tuesday after the Bulldogs centre sent an injury scare through the NSW camp after failing to finish Monday’s training session in Brisbane.
Crichton carried a groin injury on the same leg into Canterbury’s last game, and was restricted at training as a result. Blues officials were hoping his latest injury was nothing more than a cork.
Crichton was not required to undergo scans, but Blues medical staff will keep a close eye on his progress between now and game day.
The sight of Crichton limping from the field with an ice pack on his left quad was the last thing Blues coach Laurie Daley wanted to see just 40 hours out from Origin I at Suncorp Stadium.
While most eyes were on prop Payne Haas and whether his quad would cope with the first serious hit-out this camp, the Blues were not expecting the game’s best centre to exit early.
If Crichton is ruled out, South Sydney’s Campbell Graham – who filled in at right centre for the remainder of the morning against Queensland Cup side Wynnum Manly – will start and Canterbury’s Matt Burton, who has been placed on stand-by, will come in as 18th man.
Payne Haas at Blues training at Ballymore on Monday.Credit: Getty Images
Haas still appeared hampered by his own quad injury, only completing a handful of tackles during the opposed session before reverting to sprint drills on the sideline.
Blues officials remain hopeful the Brisbane front-rower will be fit to start at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night, with Stefano Utoikamanu on stand-by.
Connor Watson was confident Haas would play, while also backing his Sydney Roosters teammate Spencer Leniu to cope with the expected booing from the 50,000 locals who have not forgotten his public run-in with Maroons’ legend Johnathan Thurston.
Thurston is a member of Billy Slater’s Queensland coaching staff, but clashed with Leniu over comments he made about his punishment for calling Brisbane player Ezra Mam a “monkey” in Las Vegas nearly 15 months earlier.
Spencer Leniu trains on Monday.Credit: Getty Images
“Once it’s game time, he turns into a different beast; he gets his game head on, and he likes that hostile environment – I’m looking forward to seeing how he goes out there,” Watson said.
Meanwhile, Les Kiss, the former Queensland winger and incoming Wallabies coach, was spotted on the sidelines at training.
Kiss, a former North Sydney Bears player who featured in four Origin games for the Maroons, was at the venue in his role as Queensland Reds coach.
The 60-year-old will attend his first Origin game in more than 20 years, and admitted there were a few players in the NSW and Queensland teams that would look good as Wallabies.
“I’ve cast my eye over both teams,” Kiss said. “I’d love to have a couple of them, but at the moment we’re really happy with what we’ve got. Joseph [Suaalii] joined us recently, you guys got Marky [Nawaqanitawase] to the Sydney Roosters.
“Both teams here have a few guys who could easily represent the Wallabies. But we’re happy with our lot at the moment.”
Pressed to name names, Kiss smiled and said: “As soon as I put a name to it, I’ll get castigated from the rugby circles.”
Kiss was a fan of Blues halfback Nathan Cleary, and compared him to the greatest Queenslander of all, Wally Lewis.
“He’s a legend, what’s he done with the Panthers has been unbelievable, and he’s a guy we need to close down,” Kiss said. “His combination with a few boys will go a long way to those boys being in the hunt.
“He’s in the top four or five of the game [ever], and one of those players who make things happen in a game. Wally Lewis could take hold of an arena, the referee’s mindset, and the opposition and how they think about the game.
“I think Nathan has that same capacity do to that – if you’re in the top four or five players ever in the game, you do more than just do your role, you take control of the environment. Nathan does that.”
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