Luai in line for Blues dummy half role

Jarome Luai is under consideration to play dummy half for NSW in next Wednesday night’s opening State of Origin at Adelaide Oval if hooker Api Koroisau is unable to play the full match.

After last season opting to play Koroisau and Damien Cook in tandem, the Blues have chosen just one hooker for the series opener and are expected to rely on either Luai or Nicho Hynes to deputise at dummy half if needed.

Koroisau averages 69 minutes per match for Wests Tigers this season but has managed to play the full 80 minutes in five matches.

Hynes has been selected on the interchange and is expected to play a roaming role when he comes on for his Origin debut, as he did at the start of his NRL career with the Storm.

However, Blues assistant coach Danny Buderus indicated that he could play in the halves with Luai moving to hooker if Koroisau needed to come from the field at any stage during the Adelaide Oval clash.  

“We'll probably look at some different options. We’d like to think Api can get the 80 [minutes] out but you have to cover that area,” Buderus said.

“You always cater for something that does pop up. You have 'Romey' who can jump in there, and there are different options we can look at. You just have to think about what the game needs at the time and make that decision.”

Queensland have named Ben Hunt to start at hooker, with Harry Grant on the interchange.

It’s the same combination used successfully by Australia in last year’s World Cup final at Old Trafford and for the Maroons during their 2022 Origin series triumph.

NSW coach Brad Fittler adopted the two-hooker policy for Origin II and III last season but the Blues can’t afford to have a second hooker on the bench as well as Hynes, whose form for Cronulla has been impossible to ignore.

“Queensland have got the luxury of doing that,” Buderus said. “They can put Hunt to No.13, they can do different things there.

"We'll be fine, we'll train for all different scenarios and what happens. We just have to make sure that if something does happen, we have all bases covered.”

Buderus, who was inducted into the NSWRL Hall of Fame along with fellow great Mick Cronin and Immortals Dally Messenger, Frank Burge and Dave Brown, said he would work with the Blues hookers.

The former NSW captain wore the No.9 jersey in seven consecutive series from 2002 but the Blues also had Craig Wing on the interchange in 10 of Buderus’s 21 Origins.

“Freddy is the coach and will always pick them team he wants,” Buderus said. “I'll work in now, and if there is a Plan B or C, I’ll make sure we have it covered.

“They are all natural footy players, and very elite in what they do. And their skills stand alone. You give them a couple of real simple KPIs, and they will just run with that. They are all very elite with what they do on the field.”

With Koroisau turning 31 later this year and Cook being a year older, the Blues are already considering their future hooking options with Cronulla’s Blayke Brailey joining the extended squad ahead of Origin I.

North Queensland hooker Reece Robson was given a similar opportunity to join the NSW camp before last year's series decider in Brisbane.