NSW Blues State of Origin team Game 2 2021: Brad Fittler adds new names to squad

Loyalty has paved the way for Sydney Roosters forward Angus Crichton to return to the State of Origin arena despite missing 11 tackles in his past two matches.

NSW's Angus Crichton during Game 2 of the State of Origin match between the NSW Blues and Queensland Maroons at ANZ Stadium. Picture: Brett Costello

The NSW Blues have added some new faces to their squad for Origin 2.

Angus Crichton and Dale Finucane have all been added to the squad that defeated the Maroons soundly in Origin 1, while Campbell Graham is again named in the extended list after not making the final cut for gameday selection in the series opener.

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Loyalty has paved the way for Sydney Roosters forward Crichton to return to the State of Origin arena despite missing 11 tackles in his past two matches.

Brad Fittler’s NSW side are aiming to reclaim the prized Origin shield by beating the Maroons at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

Angus Crichton is set to get the nod for Origin II.

Crichton’s eighth NSW jumper is a timely fix for Fittler who has lost first-choice lock-forward Jake Trbojevic for Game 2 with a hip injury.

Manly’s inspirational leader will miss the next two weeks, including Sunday’s clash with the Gold Coast, according to Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler.

“Jake, unfortunately at training, has had a mishap and will miss two weeks of footy,” Hasler said.

“He’ll miss this (Sunday’s) Titans game and no doubt he won’t recover in time for the Origin game.

“He should be right after next week and be ready for Origin 3.

“He loves his footy Jake and he’s not happy about this.’’

Crichton produced an inauspicious effort in his return from a two-match suspension, missing nine tackles, against the Gold Coast Titans last weekend.

Dale Finucane is right in the frame for a Blues call up.

In an improved effort on Friday night against Penrith, Crichton missed two tackles.

“If he does get the opportunity hopefully he doesn’t miss that many in Origin,” Fittler said.

The injury to Trbojevic also allows Fittler to keep Penrith forward Liam Martin and Dragons forward Tariq Sims in the Blues squad.

Sims was superb in game one, while Martin didn’t put a foot wrong in his Origin debut that saw the Blues emphatic 50-6 win over Queensland in Townsville.

He was again outstanding for the Panthers in their victory over the Roosters last Friday night.

“The good thing with Angus is he plays on an edge and in the middle, very much like Liam Martin,” Fittler said.

“Sometimes you just don’t know what’s going to happen. The ball gets thrown in the air and you’ve just got to be able to fill in holes and Angus Crichton is able to do that, he did it for us last year.”

Liam Martin was superb for the Blues in Origin I

NSW bench prop Junior Paulo is the man most likely to start the match as a result of Trbojevic‘s omission.

In a bid to escape the prospect of being caught-up in the middle of a Covid flare-up in Sydney, the Blues will base themselves on the NSW north coast until Friday before entering enemy territory in Brisbane on Saturday.

The Blues sing the national anthem before game one of the 2021 State of Origin series (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

FULL NSW SQUAD FOR STATE OF ORIGIN 2:

Josh Addo-Carr (Melbourne Storm), Nathan Cleary (vc) (Penrith Panthers), Damien Cook (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Angus Crichton (Sydney Roosters), Dale Finucane (Melbourne Storm), Campbell Graham (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Payne Haas (Brisbane Broncos), Apisai Koroisau (Penrith Panthers), Jarome Luai (Penrith Panthers), Liam Martin (Penrith Panthers), Latrell Mitchell (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Cameron Murray (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Junior Paulo (Parramatta Eels), Daniel Saifiti (Newcastle Knights), Tariq Sims (St George Illawarra Dragons), James Tedesco (c) (Sydney Roosters), Brian To’o (Penrith Panthers), Tom Trbojevic (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles), Jack Wighton (Canberra Raiders), Isaah Yeo (Penrith Panthers). Coach: Brad Fittler.

LIKELY FINAL TEAM:

1 James Tedesco (c)

2 Brian To’o

3 Latrell Mitchell

4 Tom Trbojevic

5 Josh Addo-Carr

6 Jarome Luai

6 Nathan Cleary

8 Daniel Saifiti

9 Damien Cook

10 Junior Paulo

11 Cameron Murray

12 Tariq Sims

13 Isaah Yeo

14 Jack Wighton

15 Angus Crichton

16 Payne Haas

17 Liam Martin

18th man: Api Koroisau

19th man: Campbell Graham

20th man: Dale Finucane

Originally published as NSW Blues State of Origin team Game 2 2021: Brad Fittler adds new names to squad