Blake Ferguson stretches before the start of the Raiders' captain's run at Canberra Stadium. Photo: Jeffrey Chan
QUEENSLAND Origin great Gorden Tallis has compared his impact to Greg Inglis. NSW coach Laurie Daley admits he was ‘‘blown away’’ by his performance last weekend. And one of the greatest centres of all time, Queensland coach Mal Meninga, will be watching the Raiders and Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.
The stage is set for Blake Ferguson’s State of Origin audition, experts agreeing that consistency is the only thing holding the 23-year-old back from a Blues call-up.
Ferguson made the rugby league world take notice with a superb two-try performance in Canberra’s 24-20 upset over the Melbourne Storm last weekend.
Injuries to NSW incumbents Brett Stewart and Brett Morris have opened the door for players such as Ferguson, Cronulla’s Michael Gordon, Manly’s Jorge Taufua, South Sydney try-scoring machine Nathan Merritt and Newcastle flyer Akuila Uate.
While Tallis compared Ferguson’s potential to Inglis, arguably the most powerful back-line player in the game, the 17-game Origin legend said Ferguson still needed to address inconsistencies and ‘‘brain explosions’’ in his game.
‘‘He can be the Canberra Raiders’ Greg Inglis, but he’s got to be the main man who wants that ball and gets them on the front foot,’’ Tallis said.
‘‘I wouldn’t pick him right now because one game doesn’t make you an Origin player.
‘‘But if he plays another month of footy like that I’d say certainly.
‘‘Blake Ferguson has the perfect opportunity with not many centres standing out, to put three or four performances like that together, and put on so much pressure they can’t leave him out.
‘‘Nathan Merritt’s put a great few years of footy together, he doesn’t seem to have those brain explosions.’’
Queenslanders David Shillington and Josh Papalii will also return from injuries for the Raiders on Sunday, giving them the chance to play in front of Meninga.
Raiders coach David Furner has warned his players to forget about Origin, asking them to focus on maintaining Canberra’s undefeated home record this season.
‘‘We’ve got a couple of players in contention, but I’ve spoken to them and my advice was to make sure they focus on the game,’’ Furner said.
‘‘I like what Blake’s doing at training, and I’m a firm believer the way you play on the weekend is about that work and consistency you put in at training.’’
Raiders skipper Terry Campese said the entire team – not just Ferguson – needed to work on consistency.
‘‘The selectors have come out and said they want consistency [from Ferguson], hopefully he can repeat that performance,’’ Campese said.
‘‘The past couple of years we’ve knocked off sides like Melbourne then lost to bottom teams, we need to turn that around.
‘‘Mal always lifts the guys up with his presence, hopefully he can show the Queensland coach what he’s got coming in a few weeks.’’
Should Ferguson receive an Origin call-up it would complete a remarkable turnaround for the 23-year-old given his recent off-field turmoil.
His Raiders contract was in jeopardy after his now-infamous drinking session with sacked fullback Josh Dugan.
He also created unwanted headlines by walking out of Daley’s Emerging Origin camp in February.
But Tallis believes the incidents won’t be a factor when Daley sits down to select his side.
‘‘I’m sure Laurie was disappointed [when he walked out of camp], there’s no doubt in the world, but he was going through some personal issues and they’ve been well documented,’’ Tallis said.
‘‘That performance [against Melbourne], you don’t play that hard if you’re unhappy off the field.’’
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