Jack Bird to remain on bench for Origin

NSW coaching staff are adamant there will be no late switch to have Jack Bird start in the centres in the second State of Origin clash against Queensland.

Speculation is growing that the Origin debutant will come into the starting side at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night, 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 Bird to come into the 17.

He played just seven minutes in the opening match.

But Parish indicated they already plan to give Bird more game time 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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