Nick Cotric's showdown with Blake Ferguson looms as the perfect chance for Canberra's wing sensation to launch himself into the NSW Blues side for a potential State of Origin debut.
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Cotric and Ferguson will go head to head at Canberra Stadium when the Canberra Raiders play against the Parramatta Eels on Sunday afternoon.
It will give NSW coach Brad Fittler a benchmark for the Origin hopefuls, who will be competing for the chance to replace the injured Tom Trbojevic in the series opener on June 5.
Fittler nominated Cotric, Ferguson and Souths flyer Campbell Graham as the three players in the mix to fill the void left by Trbojevic, who is set to miss up to nine weeks with a hamstring problem.
Cotric scored the opening try against the North Queensland Cowboys last week and has enjoyed a rapid rise since bursting on to the NRL stage as a teenager two years ago.
Cotric, 20, has already played 52 games and scored 29 tries, prompting Fittler to invite him into the Blues' inner sanctum last year.
Ferguson is enjoying a scintillating start to the year after helping the Roosters win the grand final last year and then switching to the struggling Eels.
Cotric and Ferguson will face off on the same side of the field as both the Raiders and Eels chance their fourth win of the season.
Trbojevic re-injured his left hamstring during Manly's shock win over Graham's Rabbitohs at Lottoland on Saturday.
With the first match of the series just eight weeks away, Trbojevic is now in doubt to turn out in Origin I.
He was one of Fittler's best during a dominant 2-1 series win last year and will be given every chance to prove his fitness as a result.
"I just spoke to Tom this morning and it sounds like the injury is more serious than last time," Fittler said on Monday.
We'll wait and see how [Trbojevic] goes but there are a few guys there who could do a job for us. Cotric's been playing really well, Blake's going really good and then there's a guy like Graham - he's going really well too
- NSW Origin coach Brad Fittler
"We'll wait and see how he goes but there are a few guys there who could do a job for us. Cotric's been playing really well, Blake's going really good and then there's a guy like Graham - he's going really well too.
"They've all been scoring tries ... I'm not sure if they've saved many, I would have to have a closer look.
"What are we, eight weeks away? There's plenty of time between now and then but they're all definitely in the mix."
Seeing Cotric and Ferguson thrown into the mix will come as little surprise given the former was part of the Blues camp at the end of last year and the latter has already pulled on the sky blue jersey seven times between 2013 and 2017.
But Graham is 19 years old and captained the Australian Schoolboys two years ago before playing 25 games for the Rabbitohs.
He has been a finishing force on Souths' left edge, having played the majority of his football on the right-hand side of the field alongside Dane Gagai last year.
If Fittler opts to pick one of Graham or Cotric, it would be a continuation of the youth-first approach which regenerated the Blues in 2018.
If Fittler opts to name Ferguson instead, he will be welcoming back a player who brushed the team's camp at the end of last year.
"He's playing really good footy at the moment," Fittler said. "Everything [Ferguson] is doing at the moment has been highlighted. He made a mistake there on the weekend [against Cronulla] and everyone was into him.
"It'll be interesting to see how he responds to that over the next couple of weeks."
Fittler has also been impressed by Parramatta playmaker Mitchell Moses.
The Eels halfback was the best player on the ground in a 24-12 win last week, helping set up three of their four tries and guiding Parramatta to a strong start to the year.
