When is it too early to be talking about State of Origin? After round one of the NRL is usually a reasonable starting point, so with less than two months to go before the opener in Sydney, it’s officially open season for wild team selections and the all-important ‘Origin bolter’.
Last year’s series was a wide win for NSW, who fell short of a clean sweep after Queensland saved face in the final game. But with the six-again rule partly scrapped and the weekly NRL exchanges a far closer affair, it’s difficult to envisage 50-point hauls in the 2022 edition. With six games in the bank, some of the stars are shining brighter than ever, some are beset by injury and others are putting themselves in the conversation. Brad Fittler and new Maroons coach Billy Slater are innovative thinkers but will likely be reasonably risk-averse for game one, so with that in mind let’s take stock of the state of the states.could scarcely be better served on this front, with James Tedesco the current NSW captain and a man with a brilliant resume at representative level.