‘Carnage’: Laurie Daley likens injury drama to a Formula One race as Blues receive major Payne Haas boost

As Laurie Daley addressed the media to explain his game one selections, star prop Payne Haas was in Brisbane getting scans on his injured quad.

The Blues have received a major boost with superstar prop forward Payne Haas expected to start in next week’s State of Origin opener after scans cleared him of a serious quad injury.

Blues coach Laurie Daley described last weekend’s injury chaos as like watching a Formula One race as news filtered through on Sunday evening that Haas was in doubt for game one at Suncorp Stadium.

Haas was having a scan in Brisbane as Daley was doing media at the NSWRL Centre of Excellence in Sydney, with the Broncos behemoth injuring his quad during Sunday’s loss to the Dragons.

The 25-year-old is one of the best prop forwards of the modern era and has shown in his 14 Origin appearances that he can churn out huge minutes without dropping his quality.

Haas would have been a huge loss for the Blues, but he’s set to fly down to Sydney on Monday afternoon and will train with the team in Leura later this week.

If he was ruled out, Storm forward Stefano Utoikamanu would come into the 17, but it doesn’t look like that will be necessary.

NSW and Broncos star Payne Haas with ice on his quad surgery. Pic: Fox League

“He’s getting a scan this morning,” Daley said before the news came in that it was only a minor strain.

“Once we find out the results, we can work out where we go from there. It’s in the hands of the scan.

“I think he’s one of the best front-rowers in the game, if not the best (so he’d be a big loss if he’s ruled out).

“Origin tosses up a lot of different things. If he’s ruled out, he’s ruled out. We’re hoping that he can play and we’re hoping that the scan will see nothing there and he’ll be right to come down to Sydney and start preparing.”

Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton will also need to be managed throughout the week as he deals with a groin issue, but that doesn’t seem as big a concern given the strike centre has played through the pain for his club.

“I haven’t spoken to him, but the information I got off the medical staff is that he’ll need to be managed,” Daley said.

“We’ll look at doing that throughout the week and then we’ll get a better indication of how he’s travelling.

“Apparently, he’s been dealing with that for the last week or two but he’s managed to play.”

Laurie Daley watched on as a couple of his Origin hopefuls went down in round 11. Picture: Richard Dobson

Injuries have wreaked havoc in the lead-up to the Origin opener, with the Maroons losing Tom Gilbert, Murray Taulagi and Selwyn Cobbo over the weekend.

“It’s amazing how it works out,” Daley said, with last year’s NSW skipper Jake Trbojevic knocked out while making a tackle on Saturday night.

“It’s like a Formula One race. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden something occurs and there’s carnage. That’s exactly what happened yesterday and on Saturday night.

“You expect nothing different and it’s why you have to plan for everything and be comfortable with whatever the outcome is.”

Originally published as ‘Carnage’: Laurie Daley likens injury drama to a Formula One race as Blues receive major Payne Haas boost