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State of Origin injury news: NSW Blues star Bradman Best out of Game I with hamstring tear

Scans have confirmed one of the Blues’ incumbent centres will miss the opening State of Origin clash with a hamstring injury.

Bradman Best will miss Game I with a grade two hamstring injury. Picture: Jonathan Ng
Bradman Best will miss Game I with a grade two hamstring injury. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Bradman Best has been ruled out of State of Origin I calculations throwing even more carnage at NSW coach Michael Maguire.

Scans have confirmed the Knights centre has suffered a grade two hamstring injury.

Best was a frontrunner to hold down his centre position after making his Origin debut in game three of last year’s series, in which he scored two tries.

However, he will miss a minimum of four weeks after suffering the injury in the Knights Magic Round victory over the Titans.

“He’s obviously disappointed,’’ Knights head of football Peter Parr said of Best.

“He’s also realistic and is now focused on getting back on the field as soon as possible.

“Our expectation was that he would be in the Origin team, so with the bye this weekend, it will give a chance to assess our options to fill Bradman’s void.’’

Jesse Ramien, Latrell Mitchell and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii are all centre options for Maguire.

David Riccio
David RiccioChief Sports Writer

David Riccio is The Sunday Telegraph and CODE Sports chief sports writer with a career in journalism that includes 20 years at News Limited. A former sports editor of The Sunday Telegraph, David is an award-winning reporter who thrives on breaking news and writing in-depth profiles. Regarded as one of rugby league's leading reporters, having covered grand finals State of Origin and World Cups, David was also a member of our 2016 Rio Olympic Games team and is the author of Alex McKinnon's book Unbroken.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/state-of-origin-injury-news-nsw-blues-star-bradman-best-out-of-game-i-with-hamstring-tear/news-story/7b45c2cb2f7071784e722c9328c73f97