New South Wales Blues head coach Laurie Daley has revealed Brian To'o is no guarantee of playing Game 3 of the 2025 State of Origin series.
The winger has undergone scans on a knee injury suffered during the Penrith Panthers' win over the Canterbury Bulldogs on Thursday evening, and Daley confirmed on Monday he is in some doubt.
Given Penrith played on Thursday, To'o has almost two full weeks to recover in time for Origin 3, and it's unclear exactly the extent of his injury, but the concern was enough for Daley to name Canterbury Bulldogs winger Jacob Kiraz as the 18th man.
โThe reason why I picked Jacob, we've got one bloke who is in a bit of doubt and that's Brian To'o," Daley said on Sky Sports' Radio's Big Sports Breakfast.
โWe want to give him every chance to play and because the Bulldogs are playing on the Friday night we want to make sure if Brian is ruled out than Jacob has had a full 11 days preparation with us.
โSo we aren't plucking him out of the game on Friday night, he only has one training session with us and then he has to play an Origin game. We don't think that's right for him.
โBut if he gets himself in the right fashion thinking he's going to play, then Brian plays he is still 18th man and he's still a chance.โ
Kiraz being selected as 18th man means he will miss this weekend's clash for the Bulldogs against the Brisbane Broncos as they attempt to snap what has rapidly become a concern, with three losses in their last four starts.
Daley, who admitted he doesn't agree with the 18th man not being able to play a club game the week before Origin, said the second half of Game 2 convinced him not to make any changes for the decider.
โAt halftime in Game II there were about to be 17 changes,โ he said.
โI calmed down and then it was pretty easy in the end. What those blokes did in the second half showed they were very well connected and have plenty of spirit.
โWe were all disappointed what we produced in that first 40 minutes, but we know what this team is capable of doing.โ
Game 3 will be played on Wednesday, July 9.
