State of Origin training report: Bulldogs star Jacob Kiraz joins NSW Blues squad

New South Wales coach Laurie Daley has called on an in-form Bulldogs star to simulate an outside back who has been put on ice for the week. Watch our exclusive footage of Blues training.

Canterbury winger Jacob Kiraz has been called into NSW’s camp as cover for Brian To’o.

To’o has some hamstring tightness and will be rested from training in the Blue Mountains on Thursday.

Kiraz will join the Blues camp on Wednesday night and substitute for To’o at training.

To’o will be back training by the weekend and will definitely play against Queensland next Wednesday night.

The news comes as the Blues took a cautious approach their training preparations in Leura.

NSW players who played Monday’s match between Parramatta and Canterbury were given light duties while those who contested Sunday NRL matches were also told to pull back at training.

The Blues have a 10-day camp and want to build into their preparation.

Players who played some light touch football included Stephen Crichton, Mitch Moses and Zac Lomax.

It was the Blues’ first official training session since coming into camp last Monday night.

The NSW Blues kept things light during their training session at Blue Mountains Grammar School. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Stephen Crichton was just aiming to get his body moving again at Tuesday’s light session. Picture: Rohan Kelly

The entire team is fit and unscathed going into the Perth blockbuster.

The load management of some players was the reason NSW coach Laurie Daley named an extended 20-man squad with extra players Keaon Koloamatangi, Lindsay Smith and Matt Burton used at training on Wednesday.

Penrith’s Tom Jenkins and Brisbane’s Kotoni Staggs joined the NSW camp on Tuesday.

While Jenkins and Staggs won’t play Queensland on Wednesday week, they were also part of a NSW scrimmage session.

“Everyone is at different stages of their recovery,” said Blues backrower Angus Crichton.

“The most important sessions are two days and four days out (from the game). We call them D2 and D4, we work backwards in days from the game. D1 is captain’s run.

“D2 is our last intense session. Three days out is always a day off. D4 is also a big session.

“Origin is a long turnaround so it’s always a long week.”

Some players will ease further into training on Thursday.

“(Some players) need to rest the body – it’s a long week,” said Blues centre Stephen Crichton. “The first two days (after a game) is about trying to get the body moving again. It is about mental reps (repetitions).

“A lot of the boys were on different pages, depending on which day you played.

“The boys that played Thursday, Friday would have had a touch-up on Tuesday and Wednesday because they’ve had more rest.”

Some NSW players have played golf in their downtime at Leura Golf Club, adjacent to their team hotel, Fairmont Resort.

As scheduled, the media was asked to leave training after ten minutes on Wednesday.

NSW will train again at 10.30am on Thursday.

Originally published as State of Origin training report: Bulldogs star Jacob Kiraz joins NSW Blues squad