Ahead of the announcement of the New South Wales Blues side, bulldogs.com.au threw the question around the office to players and staff to come up with their Blues side for the opening game of the 2017 State of Origin series.
The Blues may have lost the series last year, but come into this year’s series with winning form — after beating the Maroons on home turf 18-14 in game three.
Injuries to outside backs Josh Dugan, Josh Mansour and Tom Trbojevic will make decisions tough for Laurie Daley.
Josh Jackson is the reigning Brad Fittler medallist and with so many backrowers in form this year, who will Daley pick to start in jersey 11, 12 and 13?
A replacement for Paul Gallen as well as a new captain will also be needed and while Matt Moylan and James Maloney are the incumbent halves, speculation about who will be the six and seven will continue until the team is announced.
Jack Bird, Matt Moylan and Tyrone Peachey all provide utility value.
Up front - David Klemmer, Shannon Boyd, Aaron Woods and Jake Trbojevic were all members of the winning four nations Kangaroos squad at the end of the 2016 season, while the Storm’s Jordan McLean was named as 18th man for the Australian side in this year’s ANZAC Test match.
Will we see Daley stick loyal or select the team on form?
It’s that time of year again when state comes up against state!
Steve Turner – Content Producer
1. James Tedesco, 2. Brett Morris, 3. Jack Bird, 4. Jarryd Hayne, 5. Blake Ferguson, 6. James Maloney, 7. Mitchell Pearce, 8. David Klemmer, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Aaron Woods, 11. Boyd Cordner, 12. Josh Jackson, 13. Jake Trbojevic, 14. Tyson Frizell, 15. Paul Vaughan, 16. Andrew Fifita 17. Matt Moylan.
Terry Lamb – Club Ambassador
1. James Tedesco, 2. Blake Ferguson, 3. Josh Dugan*, 4. Jack Bird, 5. Jarryd Hayne, 6. James Maloney, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Nathan Peats, 10. James Tamou, 11. Josh Jackson, 12. Boyd Cordner, 13. Jake Trbojevic, 14. Mitchell Pearce, 15. David Klemmer, 16. Tyson Frizell, 17. Trent Merrin.
Barry Ward - Corporate Partnership Executive
1. James Tedesco, 2. Brett Morris, 3. Jack Bird, 4. Jarryd Hayne, 5. Blake Ferguson, 6. James Maloney, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Mitchell Pearce, 10. David Klemmer, 11. Boyd Cordner, 12. Wade Graham, 13. Jake Trbojevic, 14. Matt Moylan, 15. Tyson Frizell, 16. Paul Vaughan, 17. Josh Jackson.
Josh Reynolds – Bulldogs Five-eighth
1. James Tedesco, 2. Jarryd Hayne, 3. Joseph Leilua, 4. James Roberts, 5. Josh Dugan*, 6. James Maloney, 7. Mitchell Pearce, 8. David Klemmer, 9. Robbie Farah, 10. Aaron Woods, 11. Josh Jackson, 12. Boyd Cordner, 13. Wade Graham, 14. Tyrone Peachy, 15. Tyson Frizell, 16. Jake Trbojevic, 17. Paul Vaughan.
Greg Eastwood – Bulldogs Back-Rower
1. James Tedesco, 2. Jarryd Hayne, 3. James Roberts, 4. Jack Bird, 5. Brett Morris, 6. James Maloney, 7. Mitchell Pearce, 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Damien Cook, 10. David Klemmer, 11. Josh Jackson, 12. Boyd Cordner, 13. Tyson Frizell, 14. Jake Trbojevic, 15. Paul Vaughan, 16. Andrew Fifita, 17. Tyrone Peachey.
Jim Dymock – NRL Assistant Coach
1. Jarryd Hayne, 2. Blake Ferguson, 3. James Roberts, 4. Jack Bird, 5. Brett Morris 6. James Maloney, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Aiden Tolman, 9. Nathan Peats, 10. David Klemmer, 11. Boyd Cordner, 12. Wade Graham, 13. Josh Jackson, 14. Andrew Fifita, 15. Paul Vaughan, 16. Tyson Frizell, 17. Mitchell Pearce.
David Penna – NRL Assistant Coach
1. James Tedesco, 2. Blake Ferguson, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Josh Dugan*, 5. Jarryd Hayne, 6. James Maloney, 7. Mitchell Pearce, 8. David Klemmer, 9. Robbie Farah, 10. Aaron Woods, 11. Josh Jackson, 12. Boyd Cordner, 13. Tyson Frizell, 14. Jack Bird, 15. Wade Graham, 16. Jake Trbojevic, 17. Andrew Fifita.
Mohamed Ali - Strategic Analyst
1. Jarryd Hayne, 2. Brett Morris, 3. James Roberts, 4. Josh Dugan*, 5.Blake Ferguson, 6. James Maloney, 7. Mitchell Pearce, 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Robbie Farah, 10. David Klemmer, 11. Boyd Cordner, 12. Tyson Frizell, 13. Josh Jackson, 14. Andrew Fifita, 15. Wade Graham, 16. Paul Vaughan, 17. Jack Bird.
*Pending Injury
