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Ethan Strange faces the toughest test of his young career after Blues coach Laurie Daley confirmed he would be starting at five-eighth with Mitchell Moses officially ruled out of Wednesday night’s State of Origin opener in Sydney.
The Blues’ preparations were rocked on Monday when news filtered through that Moses had suffered a hamstring injury while doing extras following the side’s training session.
They couldn’t officially rule him out until he had scans, but the news was confirmed on Tuesday morning, with Bulldogs five-eighth Matt Burton to replace Strange on the bench following his five-star showing against the Storm last week.
“He’s out,” Daley said, with Moses also suffering a calf injury while in camp ahead of Origin II last year.
“He had a strain of the hammy. Nothing major, but it’s just too risky only 48 hours out from a game, so Ethan Strange will start and Matt Burton will come to the bench.
“(It’s a) big loss, but with Origin you expect nothing different. There’s always unexpected things that happen.
“We’ve got a really good strong group of young men, so it won’t faze them and they’ll just move on.
“While it’s disappointing for Mitch, who is a big part of the team, I think we’re a bit older and wiser knowing now that when you bring big groups of people in together, they’ve got to be ready to go at any stage. Ethan’s trained with us all week, so there’s no issue there.”
Blues skipper Isaah Yeo was the one who told Daley about the injury after training, with the Blues coach confident that his star playmaker will be right for game two where he would partner Nathan Cleary for just the second time.
But it’s still a huge loss for the Blues who will miss Moses’ booming right boot and running game in wet conditions.
“I think he might even be a chance this weekend to play at Parra,” Daley said.
“It’s not a major tear at all. It’s very minor, but it’s just too risky 48 hours out. Any time you get a pinch of the hammy, you just haven’t got enough time in 48 hours.”
Daley said their attack wouldn’t change much with Strange in the side, with the 21-year-old Raiders five-eighth hoping to emulate his coach whose bigger frame made him a huge threat for NSW and Canberra.
“I’ve always loved Ethan as a player,” Daley said, with the Blues rookie also part of the Kangaroos squad for last year’s Ashes tour to the UK.
“I probably watch more Canberra games than any other team to be fair, so I’ve got a fair idea on Ethan as a player and I like the way that he plays.
“At this level, if you’ve got a strong running game and you want to challenge the defence (then you’ll do well). There’s a lot of fatigue that happens in Origin, so if he just backs his instincts, he’ll play well.”
Yeo is confident that the youngster will handle the pressure at Accor Stadium.
“I was lucky enough to go on tour with him in the Ashes and he was a sponge over there,” he said.
“We played him a couple of weeks ago and we were laughing at halftime about how hard he was to tackle, so he’s only going to bring half that to that arena and he’s going to be a handful.
“I just feel like he’s one of those players that he can step in on short notice and not many can do that.”
There had been doubts over how dominant playmakers Moses and Cleary would gel despite them combining to lead NSW to victory in game one last year.
But with Moses out, it gives Cleary more control of the team as the Panthers legend looks to finally dispel the theory that he can’t succeed at rep level.
“I think that’s the storyline around Origin and Nathan, but I don’t see it like that,” Daley said.
“I think that for us to have success, it just has to be a team performance. If we’re relying on Nathan Cleary to go out and get man of the match, then we’re kidding ourselves.
“We’ve got to rely on 17 guys to be able to work hard for each other and we all share the wins, we share the losses, we share every moment.
“I don’t see it like Nathan has to own Origin. He’s won man of the matches, he’s been a part of winning Origin series before. It’s a big game for everyone, so I’m excited actually. I just wish the game was today.”
Originally published as NSW Blues star Mitchell Moses out of Wednesday night’s first State of Origin clash
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