‘We’ll hear him before we see him’: The Laurie Daley joke that will fill every Blues fans with confidence

Eight months after sealing their fourth premiership with the Panthers, Batman and Robin are back together again. And it’s a decision that could annoy Queensland more than any other, writes DAVID RICCIO.

NSW State of Origin coach Laurie Daley was asked on Thursday when he thought Jarome Luai would arrive in camp after being parachuted in to cover the shock withdrawal of Mitchell Moses due to a calf injury.

“I’m assuming we’ll hear him before we see him,” Daley said with a grin.

The Blues coach may have been poking fun at Luai, whose volume-cranked boom-box is as much of a staple inside Blues camps as the Wests Tigers baller packing his boots.

Yet there’s also an element of confidence, assuredness and comfort in Daley’s quip, who has lost arguably the game’s best kicking game in Moses, just six days and two remaining ballwork sessions, before Origin II in Perth.

Instead of elevating 18th man Matt Burton into five-eighth to replace Moses, Daley found Luai’s number in his phone and made the call to the only person in the NRL that knows NSW halfback Nathan Cleary’s game better than the champion halfback himself.

“I’d be disappointed if we lost a guy (Moses) six days out and we couldn’t cope with that,” Daley said.

“It’s not like we’re bringing in a rookie, we’re bringing in a guy that has won an Origin series before, won four grand finals, so he knows what he’s doing.”

Jarome Luai arrives in Blues camp. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Eight months after pressing their foreheads together, arms clutched in embrace, after sealing their fourth premiership with the Panthers, Batman and Robin are back together again.

It’s not just the right call by Daley, it’s the only call.

Despite shifting his game at the Wests Tigers towards more dominance with the ball, with more touches and a greater level of responsibility than he had alongside Cleary, Luai will stroll into the mountains of Leura where the Blues team is based with the belief, swagger and trust from every NSW player that he can get the job done.

More importantly, it’s about how easily he and Cleary can combine again.

The 28-year-old will know too, that he and Cleary have some wrongs to right, too.

The last State of Origin match they played together, they lost.

In game one of the 2023 series, they were unable to break down Queensland, going down 26-18.

You don’t think two of the most competitive and dominant playmakers in the game will want to correct their last performance together in the Blues jersey?

Overall, rugby league’s Torvill and Dean have combined on the Origin stage on five occasions since 2021, winning three and losing two.

If anything, Luai’s arrival is less about the Blues, but how the Queenslanders react to his inclusion.

Nathan Cleary (R) and Jarome Luai (L) reunite in the Origin arena. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

A noted agitator, Luai has successfully got under the skin of the Maroons in the past - and not just the players.

“Chill. All you idiots have work tomorrow morning,” Luai posted on Instagram after the Blues lost the 2023 series.

The build-up to Origin I and II has been labelled bland and boring.

With Luai back in camp, all that could be about to change.