He hasn’t made his State of Origin debut yet, but North Queensland Cowboys half Tom Dearden is happy to be part of the traditional pre-decider mind games for this year’s series.
Called in as a late replacement for Cameron Munster after a positive COVID test, Dearden says he’s still not sure just what role he’ll play in Billy Slater’s Queensland Maroons team on Wednesday.
“I’m not too sure, Billy just said I’ll be in the 17,” the 21-year-old told AAP.
“He hasn’t really worked out how it’s going to work yet.”
Though he likely has a plan in place, it’s still unclear to the rest of us whether Slater will move starting dummy-half Ben Hunt to five-eighth and employ Dearden as a bench utility, or if he’ll start the young Cowboy in the halves.
“I’d be comfortable to jump in wherever the team would need me,” Dearden said.
“That’s what I’ve been doing at camp – helping out wherever the team needs me. That’d be my role if I was to come off the bench.”
Though Dearden has only played 49 games at NRL level, few would argue he’s out of his depth.
Following a mid-2021 swap from Brisbane, Dearden has since become a vital ingredient in the rise of Todd Payten’s Cowboys team, and already has 10 try assists for the second-placed side in 2022.
“If you go back 12 or even six months ago, I wouldn’t picture myself even coming along to one of these camps,” Dearden admitted.
“To get my debut now, it’s unreal. It's a really good turnaround. I’m proud of myself.”