Cast-off Nic back to haunt

NSW will have to take the Sheffield Shield final to Wollongong this month if they earn the right to host it by overthrowing Victoria this week.

Football posts went up at the SCG on February 20, consigning the Blues to their annual nomadic existence in their attempt to make their first final since 2013-14.

Standing between the Blues and potentially first place on the ladder is the star they exiled last summer, Nic Maddinson, who will lead Victoria in a topof-table, clash today at Drummoyne Oval.

Fast bowler and Ashes hopeful James Pattinson will also make his anticipated return from injury in the match.

NSW have played only two games at the SCG this season, the last in December.

Canberra, Bankstown and Drummoyne have been used as one-off venues and now North Dalton Park in Wollongong is locked in for the decider should the Blues host it.

Victoria are on top but the Blues have the same record of four wins, three losses and a draw, meaning NSW could leapfrog their rivals in the final two matches.

The Blues axed Maddinson last season after he fell out with the front office but the left-hander has smashed three centuries in his past three Shield matches.

NSW captain Peter Nevill played down talk of hosting the final, which starts on March 28, and emphasised the more immediate danger posed by Maddinson, with whom he and the Blues players remain close.

“First things first, we have to get to the final,’’ Nevill said.