Origin could hinder Warriors
Are the Warriors about to become victims of their own success in a time that has traditionally been a purple patch?
If former Warriors and Kiwis captain Adam Blair’s prediction of the club potentially losing as many as three players to State of Origin duty comes true, then the upcoming representative period could test the depth of Andrew Webster’s squad.
In the recent past, the Origin period has been a time to make hay for teams such as the Warriors, as NRL stars from the top clubs shine for Queensland and New South Wales, levelling up the club matches during that time. The Warriors have not lost the services of a player to the Origin arena since Jacob Lillyman, in 2017.
Blair and co-host Goran Paladin, on their weekly NRL discussion for Stuff, have touted Wayde Egan as the New South Wales hooker, predicted a Queensland recall for Kurt Capewell and thrown Jackson Ford into the mix as a Blues bolter.
Warriors prop Mitchell Barnett did not feature in the pair’s discussion but he has already been thrown up in Australian media reports as being a contender for the Blues squad.
“It would be the first time in a long time, if we were to have three guys in there, that it would be challenging for the Warriors in terms of their systems, processes and man managing, to be able to keep their team consistently performing,” Blair said on the podcast.
Egan, who was outstanding in the Warriors’ 34-4 victory over the Rabbitohs last Saturday, would be a huge loss, as has already been felt this season when he was out with an elbow injury. In the highly unlikely event that Capewell and Ford were selected, the Warriors would lose both edge forwards.
It’s an unfamiliar problem for the Warriors, if it happens, but one Blair welcomes, describing it as a key indicator of the club’s success.
He believes the benefit of having players selected in Origin far outweighs the negative of missing players for a few weeks, and also feels the short-term pain would be more manageable now, given the strength of the Warriors squad in 2024.
Blair believes Egan has grown immensely as a player since joining the Warriors in 2020 and said his “footy IQ” had changed dramatically for the better.
In 2021, Reece Walsh became the seventh Warrior to earn selection but a hamstring injury meant he never took the field and when he finally made his debut in 2023, he was a Brisbane Bronco again.
In the club’s history, dating back to 1995, the Warriors have never had more than two State of Origin representatives at any one time – a feat that has happened three times, with Lillyman (Queensland) and Ryan Hoffman (New South Wales) going against each other in 2015 and Brent Tate and Steve Price teaming up for the Maroons in 2008, as Kevin Campion and PJ Marsh did in 2002.
Meanwhile, Warriors hooker Freddy Lussick has been banned for four matches for the tackle that left South Sydney halfback Lachlan Ilias with a broken leg.
The incident occurred late in the New South Wales Cup clash between the Rabbitohs and Warriors that preceded the NRL match between the same sides.