HARRY WILL BECOME A CAM-DO MAROONS STAR
QUEENSLAND great Billy Moore has dubbed Harry Grant the new Cameron Smith and believes the debutant hooker is so gifted he will play 30 State of Origin games for the Maroons.
Grant’s sizzling 2020 campaign will finish on the ultimate high when he celebrates his Origin debut in tonight’s decider – 17 years after his mentor Smith was blooded by Wayne Bennett in Game 3 of the 2003 series.
Smith made an instant impact that night, scoring a try in Queensland’s 36-6 thumping of the Blues en route to an Origin record 42 games, and now Moore believes the Maroons will witness the birth of another hooking star.
It took Smith 18 first-grade games to reach the Origin arena. With 17 NRL games, Grant has scaled the Maroon summit even quicker – and Moore says the Rockhampton product can match Smith’s iron-clad grip on the Queensland hooking spot.
“I honestly believe Harry is a strong chance of playing 30
Origin games and being Queensland’s hooker for the next 10 years,” said Moore of Grant, the Storm-contracted rake who spent the year on loan to the Wests Tigers.
“Cam slotted straight into the Queensland team all those years ago and Harry will do the same. I see so much of Cameron Smith in Harry Grant and he can be just as effective as Cam was in his Origin debut.
“I liken Harry to Cam because he has a rare ability to create time with the ball. He never looks unsettled on the field. Defensively, he is incredibly sound, he is probably a better legs tackler than Cameron. Harry obviously lacks Cam’s rugby league knowledge at the moment, but he has a special ability to control games and I don’t think he will be fazed by the Origin arena.”
Grant will be Queensland’s super-sub in the Suncorp decider, acting as a back-up to starting hooker Jake Friend.
But with Friend turning 31 in January, it appears only a matter of time before Grant, 22, slots into the No.9 jumper that Smith owned for 14 years.