Whilst the men and women have dominated the Origin arena in 2026, the next generation of players get their chance to strut their talents in the U-19 Origin arena at North Sydney Oval on Thursday night.
Since the fixture was introduced in 2022, the concept has produced Origin stars such as Ethan Strange, Casey McLean, Robert Toia, Kulikefu Finefeuiaki and Jojo Fifita, who are already representing their state on the biggest stage.
Also, the likes of Paul Alamoti, Jack Bostock, Toby Couchman, Jack Howarth, Jaxon Purdue and Jye Gray have become established first-graders in the NRL level after representing their respective states in the U/19 Origin arena since the fixture was introduced in 2022.
In preparation for the contest, we are looking at five prospects per state to keep a close eye on in the contest.
1. Onitoni Large (Sea Eagles)
One of the prospects that will have a lot of eyes on him. Onitoni Large is a name that has firmly been on the lips of Manly supporters since he arrived at the club. Before focusing on rugby league, he captained the Junior Wallabies and was a standout student at Scots College.
Since making the transition to rugby league, Large has been building slowly but steadily in the halves alongside Joey Walsh in the NSW Cup after a successful season in the SG Ball for the Sea Eagles, falling one game shy of the grand final.
His ability to pick a moment to run the ball and create out wide is second to none for five-eighths coming through the juniors. Defensively, he has held well as well with a 92% tackle efficiency in the second tier. While he has had a quiet start in the NSW Cup, scoring just the one try, his combination with Walsh is building week by week.
