Maguire confirms the player to stand up in the case of injury

NSW Blues coach Michael Maguire has revealed his back up plan for State of Origin Game I if an outside back were to go down injured on Wednesday night.

The focus in the lead up to the opening match of the 2024 Origin series has been both squads’ bench players and whether there is adequate cover in the case of an injury.

Former NSW coach Brad Fittler was heavily criticised in the 2023 series after he put hooker Damien Cook in the centres after Tom Trbojevic was forced from the field in the opening minutes.

Maguire says he is prepared for multiple scenarios if one of his players were to sustain a significant injury.

“I am happy to say it. Hudson Young will jump in the centres,” Maguire said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.

“He will find himself there at some stage.

“I’ve done a lot of work with Ricky Stuart down there in Canberra.

“He’s trained and done some work in the centres and I’m confident that he will do a good job if need be.

“'Huddo' (Young) has done a lot of training throughout these last few days and he’s been really good.

“I’m really confident in what we need to do if something like that happens.”

There has been heavy scrutiny over the selection of Nicho Hynes as the halfback entered Origin camp with a bothersome calf and failed to train in the first main session.

Hynes has since pulled through and has been named to start for NSW but Maguire assured Blues fans that he has a game plan if anything were to go awry.

“We definitely have plans around that,” Maguire added.

“I certainly won’t be giving those away though.

“We have cover if we need to (make a change).”

Maguire will coach his first State of Origin match on Wednesday night at Accor Stadium and will look to avoid another Queensland series three-peat.