The State of Origin series opener has been run and won with the Blues romping to their biggest ever win, and now attention turned back to clubland for another tricky round of NRL Fantasy.
The injured and suspended Origin XVIII A Set the default text size A Set large text size
Replay A Set the default text size A Set large text size
With the number of injuries and suspensions that plague the modern era of rugby league ever increasing, I thought that it would be interesting to see the best possible team of Origin-eligible players who currently fit the suspended or injured criteria.
State of Origin 1 coverage
Fullback – Ryan Papenhuyzen
The young Melbourne fullback was all but guaranteed to make his debut last year before an injury ruled him out for the series. Unfortunately, a concussion sustained in Round 10 means he will miss Game 1 this year.
The first of the major bye rounds came and went with half the competition plus Origin players unavailable, with plenty of the remaining Fantasy guns also posting underwhelming scores.
Nathan Cleary will be handed his best shot at Australia s No.7 jersey with Mal Meninga declaring incumbency will mean little and State of Origin will decide end-of-year selections.