Manly Sea Eagles second-rower has continued to push his case for a recall to the New South Wales State of Origin side with a barnstorming performance during Sunday afternoon's win over the Parramatta Eels.
Olakau'atu finished the game with 226 metres from 22 runs, which included 98 post-contact metres, 4 offloads and 9 tackle breaks.
It was Olakau'atu's fourth straight game with 175 or more metres, with a total of 25 tackle breaks during the same time period.
His form will raise a case to be picked for the Blues. Incumbent Liam Martin is likely to miss out through injury, while Sydney Roosters' second-rower Angus Crichton's form is questionable, combined with the fact he is leaving the NRL at the end of the year.
Jacob Preston and Hudson Young are viewed as the most likely players to be selected by the under fire Laurie Daley, but Olakau'atu's form will make him hard to overlook, and Kieran Foran suggested he is among the best second-rowers in the competition.
“Without a doubt (he should be picked for the NSW Blues). In my opinion, I don't think anyone's (better than him in his position),” Foran said during his post-match press conference after the 15-point victory, which was the fourth in a row for Manly since he took over as coach.
“There's great back-rower's here in our game, there's no doubt about that. I've been doing it for a long time but Haumole's a special player.
“So in my opinion, without a doubt but I'm not a selector.
“He's a different player than what he was four or five years ago when he came in. He's growing his game each and every year, but you're just seeing a real mature guy now.
“You're seeing a back-rower who's sort of 27 and played 115-odd games. He's probably realised just how damaging he can be and for Haumole it's just about having that internal belief.
“He's such a humble guy. He doesn't want the external accolades. He doesn't want all the stuff that comes with it but inside he just needs to know how good he can be.
“He's playing like that. If he's doing that for us we're in with a chance.”
Teams for Origin 1 will be picked at the conclusion of Magic Round, with the series opener to be played on May 27 in Sydney.
