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'It'll be either him or Ben Hunt': NSW Blues planning for Queensland's rookie No 6

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

The battle of the bench will be critical to the outcome of State of Origin III after the interchange proved the decisive factor in the series’ opening two games.

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Fast middles helped Queensland to an early advantage in Origin I before the NSW big men punished the Maroons in Origin II in the second half in Perth.

It sets up an intriguing plot line to how Wednesday’s decider at Suncorp Stadium will be won, particularly given Brad Fittler’s NSW side will be without marathon man Payne Haas.

Haas’ spot in the starting side has been filled by Junior Paulo with debutant Jacob Saifiti tasked with bringing the grunt off a bench that includes hooker Damien Cook, Angus Crichton and utility Siosifa Talakai.

“I think all the bench know their job,” Fittler said. “We changed things up (after game one).

“That’s the plan. Normally if their teammates can help them with different things in the game it sort of works out.”

With Haas out, Fittler conceded he may deploy Talakai differently after conserving the Cronulla big man for a 17-minute stint in game two when NSW were already assured of victory.

“It ended up being between ‘Sifa’ and Jack (Wighton for the No. 17 role) which tells you what sort of respect we have for ‘Sifa’,” Fittler said.

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“It probably depends how the game goes and I’m sure there’ll be a few curlies tossed up and he (Talakai) is the player who can fill most roles.”

The real curly one for the Blues is whether Queensland will start debutant Tom Dearden at five-eighth or opt to move Ben Hunt to the No. 6 berth following the omission of Cameron Munster.

Fittler is unsure but has been given an insight into Dearden’s ticker by the playmaker’s North Queensland teammates Reece Robson and Chad Townsend, who make up the extended NSW squad.

“It’ll be either him or Ben Hunt sitting on that left hand side,” he said.

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“We do our homework on all the players and obviously Tommy’s a little bit younger and newer.

“One thing they (the Blues’ Cowboys players) have been telling us is how much they like playing with him and they say he’s a tough little kid who puts his head in places where most don’t.”

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Nickers 38 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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