The alarming news comes just days out from Origin I.
The Blues have suffered an injury blow just days before the State of Origin opener on Wednesday night. Dylan Edwards has quad discomfort, and coach Michael Maguire says the Penrith star will be tested again tomorrow. Dropped Blues veteran James Tedesco is currently on standby.
While all eyes are now on Edwards, 7NEWS chief NRL reporter Jelisa Apps has confirmed that the fullback won’t have scans.
“Dylan Edwards has some quad tightness, Michael Maguire says he will reassess how he is tomorrow but he has spoken to (Roosters coach) Trent Robinson and James Tedesco is on standby,” Apps said.
If Tedesco is selected, he will miss the Roosters’ clash with North Queensland at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
Edwards had been named in the Blues line-up ahead of Tedesco and was set for his State of Origin debut.
Maguire is hopeful Edwards’ 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.
As of lunch-time Saturday, Tedesco had not joined Blues camp and is expected to line up against North Queensland
In better news for the Blues, Nicho Hynes is expected to shake off his calf troubles.
The Blues had been sweating on Hynes’ fitness to begin, after already losing halfback options Nathan Cleary, Mitch Moses and Adam Reynolds in the lead-up to their team announcement.
NSW are now expected to release 19th man Luke Keary, who had been on stand-by to play in the halves in the event Hynes did not make it through Saturday’s crucial training session at Blue Mountains Grammar.
Maguire recently spoke about making the calls to Edwards and Tedesco to inform them about his decisions.
“He said, ‘how are you going, Madge’. I said, ‘congratulations, mate’, and then there was just silence,” Maguire said.
“Then he just thanked me, and he was so pleased. You could just sense that.
“I’ve had a lot of good conversations with Dylan and he’s ready. I think we all believe that he’s been ready for a long time so now it’s about just enjoying the week and moving towards the game.”
But he admitted that conversation was a lot easier than the one he had to Tedesco who was coming off 22 consecutive Origin appearances.
“It was tough, but I understand why James is the person he is,” Maguire said.
“I’ve got the utmost respect for Teddy. He’s done everything in the game.
“I’ll hold what he said to me, but I can understand why he’s going to go down as one of the champions of the game. He’s playing some good footy, so it was a big decision.
“I just felt from the gut that it was the right time to give Dylan the opportunity to play.
“He’s a player who has been playing at the highest level, he has played in four grand finals and he’s won three.
“He is probably one of the most consistent players that I’ve seen for a long time, over a long period of time.”
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