Michael Maguire has made numerous big calls in his first State of Origin side as New South Wales Blues coach.

None of them, however, are bigger than the call to drop experienced Origin dummy half Apisai Koroisau for Reece Robson and not have a realistic back-up option.

While Queensland have their dummy half rotation down to a fine art through Harry Grant and Ben Hunt, the same can't be said for the Blues, who must nail plenty of in-game aspects to be built different and stand a chance of taking out this year's series.

In recent years, Koroisau has been the man to play the number nine for the Blues, and has often been joined by Damien Cook.

Koroisau, who played Game 1 last year, was injured during Game 2 and 3 of a disastrous series. Robson started Game 2 and came off the bench in Game 3, with Damien Cook doing the opposite during the final two games of last year's series.

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Of course, injuries at one point forced Cook out to the centres, and regardless of his Origin level last year, there was little chance of his selection this year as the South Sydney Rabbitohs continue to struggle along at the foot of the table.

Robson was always in the mix to be selected, but his elevation to the stand alone dummy half with only starting lock Cameron McInnes has come as an undoubted surprise for supporters of the men in sky blue.

There is no doubt the former St George Illawarra Dragons' man has been in excellent form, and among the best for a North Queensland Cowboys' outfit who have had a mixed start to the campaign, showing some strong form on occasion, but also failing to put things together at times to sit outside the top eight at the start of the Origin window.

There is also the argument that Robson is an 80-minute dummy half and means the Blues don't specifically need a utility on the bench, something Koroisau hadn't quite proven during his tenure in sky blue.

Robson is arguably the better defender too, with his tackling off the charts for the Cowboys. It's very, very clear on the rare occasions he misses out for the Cowboys, with their middle third revealing a far softer underbelly.

One of the criticisms of Koroisau, in truth, has been his defence. He has missed high tackle counts in a majority of the big games he has played, including at Origin level in recent years.

But there is little doubt aroun the value Koroisau brings to a team with the football in hand. His attack in the number nine is among the best in the competition, and it could be argued very easily that he is the only dummy half across the NRL who is anywhere near the level Harry Grant consistently churns out for the Melbourne Storm.

So to drop him completely, even if his role was going to be on the bench, is a surprising call from Maguire who has quickly stamped his mark on the Blues' side, and picked exactly what he wants for the series opener.

You can't help but feel the injury to Connor Watson has caused more than a little bit of a headache for the Blues. He may not be an incumbent for the Origin arena, but his form at the Sydney Roosters this year combined with his utility value meant that, for most, he was a walk-up starter in predicted teams.

With Watson injured, and the only other realistic multi-position option being Dylan Walker, it came down to whether Maguire wanted a specialist hooker on the bench.

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He opted against it, instead naming McInnes at lock, and Isaah Yeo on the pine.

Yeo was never going to be left out of the Blues' side from an experience point of view, and that became even clearer once Cameron Murray went down with an injury which ended his chances of playing in Game 1.

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But Yeo coming off the bench, and McInnes starting, is another head-scratcher.

Impact off the bench against tiring forwards is everything in Origin. If there is anything the combination between Hunt and Grant has proven in recent years, it's that. Spark around the ruck is absolutely crucial during that middle phase of the game.

There is little doubt McInnes will spend some time at dummy half, but that doesn't match up to what Queensland have named.

The Maroons also have Selwyn Cobbo on their bench, going for a far smaller side than the Blues.

That means, for New South Wales to dominate Game 1, they need to put themselves on the front foot. Their back five will need to crunch their opposition for run metres, and it does seem to be a consideration for Maguire, picking Zac Lomax and Joseph Suaalii who are both averaging big running metres.

Their forwards then need to maintain the rage to take that pressure off what will be an understandably fatigued Robson.

Any injuries in the backline could also shoot the Blues, although Koroisau is realistically only an option to spend time in the halves as a last resort, meaning the two hooking strategy wouldn't have made much of a difference there.

As it stands, the two sides will run into Game 1 with vastly differing tactics and will be hoping for different games to play out.

The battle of the ruck though, no matter which way it pans out, could well be the critical deciding factor in the opening game of this year's State of Origin series.

Maguire will just be sweating on the fact he has his team built different to the one which ran out to open up last year's series.

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