Rugby league legend Andrew Johns has called for Mitchell Moses to partner Nathan Cleary in the halves for next year’s State of Origin opener, saying Jarome Luai’s “poor” Game III performance should cost him his spot.
Speaking on Wide World of Sports’ Immortal Behaviour, Johns offered a blunt assessment of the Luai-Cleary combination following NSW’s 24-12 loss to Queensland,
Despite the pair’s club level success — including four NRL premierships with the Penrith Panthers — the former NSW halfback said Luai and Cleary “weren’t on the same page” during the decider match.
"The second half in particular, a couple of times we investigated down the right side, and then the ball came back ... and then Nathan would end up sort of looking for his partner in crime and end up just playing inside and negate any good work we did," Johns said.
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While the eighth Immortal acknowledged that Cleary would be “shattered” by his performance in NSW’s Game III loss to Queensland on home soil, he backed that “moving forward he’s our No.7”.
“It was all sort of built around Nathan – game on the line, series decider, he hasn't won a decider yet, on our home turf ... this is his time. He'd be hugely disappointed," he stated.
"To get his team home would have been a superhuman performance, but you've got to do that to get your legacy at that level.”
However, when it comes to who should partner Cleary in the No.6 jersey, Johns was just as certain that change is needed.
"Jarome was pretty poor – it wasn't a great Origin performance. Moving forward, everyone fully fit, I think it's Nathan and Moses."