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Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai will treasure an extra week training together in NSW Origin camp ahead of next Wednesday’s series decider – and use it to ensure they don’t fall into old Penrith habits.
Luai’s call-up to replace the injured Mitchell Moses for Origin II reunited the most successful halves pairing in modern rugby league history for the Blues, but Cleary’s pre-game groin injury hampered their dynamic as Queensland held on for a famous win.
Luai has also been dealing with a medical problem, spending three nights in hospital last week as he recovered from an infection, but he expects to take part in NSW’s four scheduled training sessions before Origin III.
Former Blues coach Brad Fittler noted in commentary for Channel Nine that Luai’s “frantic play” had impacted NSW’s structure in a first half riddled with errors and penalties as the Blues slumped to a 26-6 half-time deficit.
Luai was one of the Blues’ best as he recovered from multiple first-half mistakes to set up two tries in their comeback. The Tigers skipper revealed he had become mindful of not trying to replicate the Panthers game plan when playing for NSW.
“It’s definitely different now I’m not at Penrith, and we do lean on that connection of playing together for so long,” Luai said on Monday.
“But you have to strip away the titles and all those games we’ve played together to focus on what we’re here to do, beat Queensland. We’ve had a lot of success together, but it doesn’t really mean anything now come game time and in the past I’ve probably tried to rely on the club combination too much.
“But you can’t do that; you’re playing against the best players in the world, so you have to make the most of every single day preparing in this camp. You can’t leave anything to chance.”
The Blues’ style has been criticised as being too similar to Penrith’s in previous years, but Cleary conceded they didn’t adjust to the wet conditions in Perth either, pushing short passes that led to mistakes.
Nathan Cleary meets Blues fans on Monday.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Cleary lauded Luai’s “goldfish memory” and ability to shake off early errors to spearhead the NSW revival in Perth. The Blues No.7 is confident his ongoing adductor strain will only limit his goalkicking in NSW camp, allowing the pair to hone a combination first struck as 15-year-olds before winning four consecutive NRL titles with Penrith.
“Romey was the one still swinging for the stands there with big plays in the second half, he was massive in terms of us building momentum in our comeback,” Cleary said.
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“I’ve always thought we complement each other really well, and I thought we got better as the game went on. It definitely felt natural being alongside him again.
“Now getting to have the full week of training with him, no doubt we’ll be better again – our connection in general, making sure we’re in sync with what we’re doing. We complement each other really well: he’s the X-factor and I’m the one that can hold it together through the middle of the field.”
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