'If you need me, I'll be ready': Why Daley had no fear recalling axed Luai

When Westpac NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley called Jarome Luai before Origin I to tell him that Mitchell Moses would partner Nathan Cleary in the halves, he replied: “If you need me, I’ll be ready”.

After Moses went down with a calf injury in the 20th minute of an opposed session against The Entrance on Thursday, it was a case of “in emergency break glass” for Daley.

As Luai was walking off the Wests Tigers training field at Concord he received another phone call from Daley, who was preparing to make an impassioned SOS plea ahead of Origin II at Perth's Optus Stadium.

“He said, ‘sweet, I’m ready to go’, so that filled me with confidence,” Daley recounted.

“I said, ‘what are you doing’. He said, ‘I just finished training’ and I said, ‘are you're fit’. He said, ‘mate, I am’. I said, ‘do you want to play Origin’. He goes, ‘yes’. It was as simple as that.”

Luai joined the NSW squad in the Blue Mountains soon after and he will have his first training session on Saturday before travelling to Perth for next Wednesday night’s Origin II against Queensland at Optus Stadium.

The Wests Tigers star was a key member of the Blues squad that won last year’s series under Michael Maguire, playing alongside Nicho Hynes in the Origin opener and Moses in Games Two and Three.

However, Daley opted for Moses to partner Cleary in last month’s opening match at Suncorp Stadium and the pair combined to steer NSW to an 18-6 triumph.

“Mitch played really well in in Game One and he started off looking really good this week and then just injured his calf today,” Daley said.

“We're unsure of how bad it is, but he won't be any good by Wednesday, so he's going for scans.”

While the injury is a setback for the Blues, in many ways it has become a case of putting the band back together as Luai grew up playing alongside Cleary at Penrith and the pair won four consecutive NRL premierships together.

The pair played against each for the first time since Luai joined Wests Tigers last Sunday, with Cleary's Panthers triumphing 18-14 in a gripping contest.

Captain Isaah Yeo, fullback Dylan Edwards, winger Brian To’o and secondrower Liam Martin are other Panthers in the NSW team, while centre Stephen Crichton, interchange prop Spencer Leniu and 18th man Matt Burton are former Penrith premiership winners.

“Jarome will come in, he played last year, he’s got a good combination with Nathan and he's a left side player so he'll be fine,” Daley said.

“He's won four grand finals and he won the Origin series last year, so I think everyone would have a lot of confidence and a lot of faith in him.

“I don't know Jarome that well, but I think that he'd believe in himself too -  that he could come in and do the job at short notice.

“There will only be a couple of training sessions, but the fact that he's played with that left edge last year is an advantage for us as well.

“It's not like you're bringing in someone that hasn't been here before or who hasn't played with those players, so it is what it is. I’m disappointed for Mitch, but I’m excited for Jarome.”

Daley said it had been a difficult decision to choose which of the playmakers would partner Cleary in Origin I and he had explained that to Luai during his initial phone call.

“He handled it with such class," Daley said. "He said that if I needed him he'd be ready to go.

“We felt to start the series that Mitch and Nathan was the right way to go about it, but now that Jarome gets another opportunity with Nathan, I think it will bring the best out in both of them.

“They know each other's games so well, so it won't be a distraction for us. It won't be a drama. I think what gives me the confidence is the type of player he is. He will walk in, and everyone will feed off his energy.”

Burton was briefly considered as an option to replace Moses as he was already in camp and trained in his position after he was injured.

However, he will remain 18th man with the Blues receiving dispensation from the NRL to bring in Luai as the states only named 20-man Origin squads on Monday, whereas Telstra Premiership clubs choose 22 players each Tuesday ahead of the upcoming round.  

“I had a chat to Matty. Obviously, he'd be disappointed, and you want him to be disappointed, but he gives us a bit more versatility in that 18th-man role,” Daley said.

“He can play a few more positions and with that Jarome and Nathan combination, they've had so much success, and back playing with each other, I think there'll be an energy and a synergy there.”