Former NSW Blues advisor Greg Alexander has made an audacious claim on which front-rower should be selected in the 2025 State of Origin series opener, while another forward has earned the backing of his teammate to make his Blues debut.

Taking over from Michael Maguire as Blues coach, Laurie Daley has several tough decisions to make in the coming days before he finalises his team for Game 1 of the 2025 State of Origin series.

While all the talk has been around the outside backs and which halves pairing of Jarome Luai, Mitchell Moses and Nathan Cleary will be selected, several players are continuing to push their case to play in the forward pack for New South Wales.

So far, only Brisbane Broncos front-rower Payne Haas is the only lock and certainty to be one of the middle forwards selected by Daley.

However, Alexander, a former NSW Blues advisor under Brad Fittler, has backed the selection of Newcastle Knights' Jacob Saifiti over the likes of Stefano Utoikamanu and Terrell May.

"With Jake not there, there is a spot for a front rower. These are the three I think it comes down to - Terrell May, Stefano Utoikamanu, and Jacob Saifiti, who has done the job before," Alexander said onย SEN Radio.

"I would go Jacob Saifiti. I would have someone like Jacob Saifiti in front of Terrell May... May has got a big workload, plays big minutes, (but) a lot of his runs are just runs, not necessarily impact.

"I wouldn't call them ineffective, but they are just runs. I just like the impact of someone like Jacob Saifiti."

NRL Rd 1 โ€“ Wests Tigers v Knights
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 07: Terrellย May of the Wests Tigers is tackled during the round one NRL match between the Wests Tigers and Newcastle Knights at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on March 07, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

The surprising comments from Alexander come as two of Terrell May's Wests Tigers teammates have backed the Samoan international to make his Origin debut after a great start to 2025, which has seen him rocket up the Dally M Medal leaderboard.

Revealing his dream to play for the NSW Blues at the start of April, May is one of the favourites to make his Origin debut in the coming weeks.

"He's an awesome player. He's been a great addition and probably the buy of the season," Alex Twal said on May.

"The way he started the season, I think he definitely has a place in the Blues."

Jack Bird, who has previously played five matches for the Blues, added: "He's done enough to be selected.

"I don't even know when Origin gets selected but he's just going to keep playing good footy and hopefully get selected for that."