Sydney Roosters dummy half Reece Robson has admitted the club’s next game against Blayke Brailey and the Cronulla Sharks will be pivotal in deciding who plays for New South Wales in the opening game of the 2026 State of Origin series.
Robson is the incumbent, but no guarantee to keep his spot in Laurie Daley’s side who came up short against Queensland in last year’s series.
Daley, who will be in the coaching firing line if the Blues can’t get over the line in this year’s series, will likely weigh up a number of changes to his side, but one of the biggest decisions to make will be at hooker.
Brailey was picked as part of the Australian Kangaroos squad last year on the back of a career-best year, and has started 2026 in similar form.
Clearly Cronulla’s most important player, the dummy half is yet to debut at Origin level, but many have him picked ahead of Robson, who missed the start of his first season with the Roosters on the back of his form tailing at the end of 2025 in Townsville.
Robson hasn’t given up his Origin jersey yet, and while he acknowledged the enormity of this weekend’s clash, he said consistent form in the lead up to selection – which is still about six weeks away – would be crucial.
“This has been a good experience, the first part of this year to try and get my best foot forward ahead of Origin,” Robson told the media.
“Blake’s a great player and I’ve got a good chance to play him this weekend. But yeah, it just comes down to the footy at the moment and who’s playing the best footy coming into that time of year.
“When you look at it that way, I guess it probably is something they [selectors] might look at. But again, there’s a lot of games between the start of the season and Origin time.
“It’s more the consistent form that would come to fruition in those times of year when they’re picking those teams.
“A game like this definitely would have an indication towards it. It’s more the consistency and [continuing] to play at a higher level week in, week out.”
