NSW Blues set to make late 2016 State Of Origin Game 2 change

NSW are expected to make a late change to their starting side for State of Origin II, with debutant Tyson Frizell moving off the bench and into the back-row in place of Greg Bird.

The Blues made a similar late change ahead of Origin I earlier this month, when Bird was then also moved out of the 13 from lock and back to the bench. James Tamou moved from the bench into the starting side and skipper Paul Gallen replaced Bird at lock.

NSW will confirm their starting side one hour before Wednesday night’s scheduled 8.20pm kickoff.

NSW must win Origin II at Suncorp Stadium to keep the series alive, after their 6-4 loss in Origin I in Sydney.

Earlier on Wednesday, the NSW coaching staff were adamant there would be no late switch to have Jack Bird start in the centres on his Origin debut in game two.

Speculation has been strong that Bird could come into the Blues’ starting side, pushing Dylan Walker back to the bench position he occupied in the opening game.

“That’s not going to happen,” assistant coach Matt Parish told Sky Sports Radio.

“It hasn’t happened in our practice.”

Walker was called into the starting side when centre Josh Morris was ruled out with a groin injury on Sunday, in turn allowing Jack Bird to come into the 17.

Walker played just nine minutes in the opening match.

But Parish indicated they already planned to give Bird more game time than Walker in Brisbane.

“We think Jack can really add something to our attack,” Parish said.

“We’ve got a plan, we had a plan for Dylan in game one but, because we had a bit of momentum at the time, we changed tack slightly.”

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