Jarome Luai will replace Mitch Moses as NSW’s five-eighth for the State of Origin Game 2 after a calf strain dashed Moses’s hopes of playing.
Moses pulled up sore while running the ball during a training session at NSW’s Blue Mountains camp on Thursday, injuring the same calf that troubled him earlier this year.
The Blues have sent Moses for scans on the injury that delivers a blow to their hopes of sealing a series victory by winning Origin II in Perth on Wednesday.
Blues coach Laurie Daley says Moses played really well in game one, and they are unsure of how bad it is, but he won’t be any good for Wednesday with the short turnaround.
Daley called Luai on Thursday to ask whether he would be available after Moses beat him for selection in NSW’s Game-one win.
Luai, who had just finished on the training paddock at Wests Tigers, answered Daley’s distress call to reunite with former NSW halfback Nathan Cleary in the halves.
It’s the second time in as many years that injury has forced the Blues to turn to a player they initially snubbed, with James Tedesco coming in for Dylan Edwards to play fullback in last year’s series opener.
Luai played five-eighth in all three games of NSW’s 2024 series win and has featured alongside NSW halfback Cleary at Origin level six times already.
The pair also won four consecutive NRL premierships together at Penrith before Luai joined the Tigers this season.
The NSW Blues will meet the Queensland Maroons at 10.05pm Wednesday at Optus Stadium in Perth.
[Source: The Guardian]
