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The victorious NSW Origin team wants to be led by halves Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds again this year, despite the Canterbury pair’s drop in form, according to Trent Merrin.
The Blues prop said that while every player had been put on notice by coach Laurie Daley during the pre-season that they needed to make themselves irresistible to selectors, the players as a group wanted to stay together.
In the past two NRL games, Hodkinson and Reynolds have made seven errors between them, achieved no line breaks or line-break assists and made only one try assist.
That prompted Andrew Johns to say this week what some have been muttering privately.
“Terrified about the form of the half and five-eighth for NSW,” Johns said on Triple M before Monday night’s NRL game. “There will be pressure to go with the incumbents after they got it done last year. But yesterday the performance of Josh Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson *really worried me.”
Merrin said Johns’s comments would not change how the 2014 Blues squad members felt towards their halves.
“All the blokes who played last year would want them back,” said Merrin, who has played 10 games for NSW, including all three in the 2-1 series win over Queensland last year that ended an eight-year Maroons streak.
“It was such a tough thing we did last series to turn all those years around and get the win for the state,” he added.
“Obviously, you want the same group of boys there to do it again.
“In the end it’s up to Loz (Daley) and the coaching staff.
“It’s their opinions that matter the most.”
Merrin said he personally felt Hodkinson and Reynolds should be given a chance to redeem themselves.
“I’m not one to judge them on form. It all falls back on Loz and how he wants to go about it,” he said. “But I know that whenever as a player you step into that Origin theatre, it always lifts you and you seem to excel and bring out your best.
“I can’t comment too much (on Johns’s view). But I’ve got faith in Trent and Josh that they’ll bounce back. They are both good players with positive attitudes. They will be able to turn things around.”
Daley was not available yesterday. He is currently in the US with his NSW assistant coach Matt Parish studying the latest training methods and facilities there.
It is all part of Daley’s plan to keep refreshing the Origin camps by introducing new ideas in an *effort to keep one step ahead of the *Maroons.
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