Mitchell Moses being a last-minute withdrawal for the NSW Blues isn't what anyone in the camp would have been keen on ahead of the opening game of the 2026 State of Origin series.
There is no doubting what Moses has brought to the Blues in recent years, and when he plays, the men in sky blue generally have a pretty good record over their northern rivals.
In fact, it's tough to remember Moses having a bad game for the Blues, with four wins from six games.
Two of those came in 2024 under the coaching of Michael Maguire when he was parachuted into the side for Games 2 and 3 with Nathan Cleary out injured, while the other wins were in Game 1 last year at five-eighth alongside Cleary, and in Game 3 of the 2023 series when Cleary was out.
The rhetoric from the majority leading into this year's series was that, even out of position, Moses would be the better of the options to play at five-eighth alongside the in-form Cleary, who has often struggled at representative level throughout a glittering club career.
But there was a catch.
Moses and Cleary are very, very similar players. As much as it worked in Game 1 of the 2025 series, there is also no doubting that was against a very poor Queensland team.
Anyone who claims they knows what would have happened if Moses stayed fit once Billy Slater rung the changes, led by the shock axing of Daly Cherry-Evans is telling porky pies.
Moses and Cleary might have led the Blues to a series victory, but Queensland were a totally and utterly different side in Game 2 and 3.
Once you consider Cleary's issues at representative level, as well as the fact both halves enjoy having their hands on the ball plenty, there are real doubts whether it would have worked or not.
Chances are we were going to find out for good this time around, and Laurie Daley staked his coaching future on it, but the injury-prone Moses going down in training has taken him out of Game 1, and likely, Game 2 as well.
If the Blues perform strongly in Game 1 and indeed 2, the chance of a recall for Moses would be very likely slim. If they go into Game 3 needing a win and haven't been performing well enough, then there is a good chance he comes back into the side.
Injuries are never something you're keen on, especially this late into the camp, but there is a real argument to say Ethan Strange will actually make a better halves combination with Cleary.
Cleary can run the kicking game, manage his forwards and set the shapes, while Strange can play eyes up footy.
It's what made Strange so dangerous last year in the nation's capital. His combination is starting to find its feet in 2026 with Ethan Sanders, but what he had with Jamal Fogarty last year was hard to ignore as the green machine shot to the top of the ladder.
At club level, there are few better halfbacks when it comes to control and structure than Cleary, but Fogarty in Canberra last year had form that was hard to ignore.
It wasn't standout style and flash, but by playing the percentages, it allowed Strange to do just that, and he produced plenty of highlights as a result.
Not for a moment is there a suggestion that the Origin arena, particularly for a rookie, is anything like the club game, but the fact is Strange appears built for Origin.
He will take advantage against tired defenders, hold his own in the physicality at both ends of the field, and if he has the right halfback alongside him, could be a game-breaker.
It could all end in tears for the Blues if Cleary can't get the job done - certainly, he has had plenty of cracks at Origin in teams that should have won without a great deal of success, but if he does, and Strange does fit in, then this could be the Blues halves combination for years to come.
