The NRL's crackdown on high shots in the sport has brought about an unexpected silver lining for NSW.
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It means they won't have to worry about Josh Papalii as they attempt to win back the State of Origin Shield in Wednesday night's series opener.
Papalii will be forced to watch the clash from Canberra this year, as he serves the tail end of a three-match suspension for a high shot on Canterbury's Tuipulotu Katoa.
He was the first player to be sent off for a high shot as part of the NRL's recent crackdown on contact with the head, and his subsequent ban cost him his spot in the Maroons' side as they begin their Origin defence.
That leaves Raiders five-eighth and reigning Dally M Medalist Jack Wighton's as Canberra's only Origin representative in game one.
"NSW picked a good team, [it] would've been nice to see Jack in the number six jersey but Jarome [Luai] and Nathan [Cleary] have been killing it the last few weeks," Papalii said.
"I don't want to be talking them up too much, I'm sitting on the other side of the fence.
"It's going to be hard [to watch] but then obviously those boys that have been picked, they've been picked for a reason, they've been doing their job and they've been playing well.
"I've been in up and down kind of form this year, and I probably speak on behalf of the whole club as well."
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Papalii makes a welcome return to Ricky Stuart's side which takes on the Brisbane Broncos at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night and the star prop said he'd learned from his suspension.
"We get taught to hit under the ball and not in the head, I just caught him a bit too square, he was falling down and I was coming up and my shoulder made contact with the head," Papalii said.
"Any win right now will make this joint a bit happier, just a better place to come in on Monday.
"A few wins on the trot would just help. The team we have is stacked and I think that's the frustrating bit, we're not playing to what we have here."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
