NSW have reached out to the Sydney Roosters to ask whether axed fullback James Tedesco could be on stand-by for the State of Origin series opener after his replacement Dylan Edwards pulled up sore following a pivotal training session.
Named ahead of long-time Blues captain Tedesco for the June 5 series opener, Panthers custodian Edwards reported tightness in his quad after the final session of NSW’s Blue Mountains camp on Saturday.
Blues coach Michael Maguire has personally contacted Roosters counterpart Trent Robinson to gauge Tedesco’s availability for Wednesday night.
Maguire is hopeful Edwards’s calf problem is only minor but any injury would leave the Blues in need of a reinforcement, given there is no other specialist fullback in the NSW team.
With the game at the Sydney Football Stadium fast approaching, the Blues will make a call on Edwards’s fitness on Sunday.
As of lunch-time Saturday, Tedesco had not joined Blues camp and is expected to line up against North Queensland at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
The Blues received better news regarding the status of halfback Nicho Hynes, who has been battling a calf injury.
During the same session Hynes ran as confidently as at any point since entering pre-Origin camp under an injury cloud.
Pending an opposed session with players from Penrith’s pathways team, the Blues halfback looks likely to line up in the series opener on June 5 in Sydney.
Hynes’s Blues teammates are increasingly hopeful of his chances.
“He’s heaps good,” centre Stephen Crichton said.
“He’s confident in himself as well. Every time I ask him, I feel like I’m asking him too much.
“But he’s confident. I did a lot of kicking yesterday with him as well so he’s ready to go.”
Blues second-rower Liam Martin has been similarly eager for updates on Hynes’s calf, and is growing in confidence his teammate will line up against Queensland.
“He’s probably getting sick of the rest of us checking in — he’s ready to get out there with the team and rip in,” he said.
“He’s feeling good, me and him warmed up together the other day and then we were in full training. He’s feeling good, he’ll be ready to fire.”
A right-calf issue rubbed Hynes out of the round-10 clash against Melbourne and meant he remained sidelined after going off for a head injury assessment (HIA) against Penrith in the Sharks’ last game before the Origin teams were picked.
He missed the Blues’ first training session on Wednesday and trained separately for part of Thursday’s runout.
AAP