Manly Sea Eagles lock forward Jake Trbojevic was sensationally snubbed from the NSW Blues State of Origin side for Game 1 of this year's series, and now his club coach Des Hasler has admitted he was "surprised" by the decision.
The case of whether to pick and stick or not has been inconsistently applied throughout Fittler's side for the opening clash of the series against Queensland, to be played at Homebush next Wednesday.
While Tariq Sims has survived with his spot despite being out of touch for the St George Illawarra Dragons at club level, all of Daniel Saifiti, Josh Addo-Carr and Jake Trbojevic were dropped from the 22-man squad for the opening clash, while Tyson Frizell could only find a place amongst the reserves.
The decision to chop both Trbojevic and Frizell in particular from the 17 came thanks to the continued good form of Parramatta Eels duo Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Ryan Matterson.
Trbojevic has struggled enormously to hit his usual levels of productivity so far this year with the football in hand, and is yet to record a single tackle break, and has only made a single offload in his 12 games. Despite that, he has made almost 500 tackles at 96 per cent efficiency.
Hasler said it was that sort of player you need in the Origin arena, but also revealed Trboevic hasn't let himself get down about being cut for Game 1.
"Honestly, I was (surprised)," Hasler told reporters on Friday after the team's captain's run.
"He's got that real typical Origin animal, that you require ... but selectors have a job to do and Jake is a realist in regards to do that.
"Life goes on and he gets back to doing the job for us tomorrow."
Trbojevic, who has made 174 NRL appearances, has represented his state 13 times since debuting in 2017.
Manly will take on the New Zealand Warriors in a must-win clash without QLD Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans on Saturday afternoon during Round 13.
