Cronulla captain Paul Gallen is so impressed with the form of Todd Carney in the Sharks’ NRL revival this season that he wants to line up alongside the star five-eighth in a NSW jersey.

The NSW No.6 jumper is one of the most hotly-contested spots in Ricky Stuart’s squad, with Carney battling Canberra’s Terry Campese, Newcastle’s Jarrod Mullen, Warrior James Maloney and the incumbent, St George Illawarra’s Jamie Soward, for the position.

But working in Carney’s favour is his strong partnership with the incumbent halfback Mitchell Pearce, who he partnered in the halves when the Sydney Roosters reached the 2010 grand final, and the support of Blues captain Gallen.

Gallen believes Carney’s positive start the year, including leading the Sharks to two wins in the past two weeks, shows his once-troubled teammate is ready to finally graduate to the Origin arena.

Carney’s form has picked up in Cronulla’s back-to-back victories over premiers Manly and North Queensland, in part due to a move back to his preferred second-receiver role, with Jeff Robson taking control at halfback.

And while it is Carney’s attacking prowess which earned him the 2010 Dally M medal, Gallen believes it is the 25-year-old’s defensive workload which proves he is ready to help end Queensland’s six-year-dominance this year.

“If he keeps doing that over the next six weeks, there’s no reason he couldn’t get a Blues jumper,” Gallen said on Wednesday.

“I think the biggest thing for Toddy is he has to defend well, because that’s a huge part of the Origin arena, and I think he’s done that pretty well the last couple of weeks.

“He had the biggest, toughest bloke in Tony Williams against him a couple of weeks ago and he handled himself really well.”

Carney will get another chance to showcase his talents against Penrith on Saturday as the Sharks look to win three in a row.

They’ll have to do so without second-rower Anthony Tupou, who will have scans on his injured knee on Friday which are expected to rule him out for six weeks.

But coach Shane Flanagan does welcome back prop Bryce Gibbs (broken thumb) after the former Wests Tiger was a late withdrawal the past two weeks.

“It’s a pretty fair replacement being able to bring Bryce Gibbs back into the team though,” Gallen said.

The Sharks are also likely to lose winger Stewart Mills to a hamstring injury he has struggled with for the past fortnight.