NSW coach Brad Fittler has revealed the details of a confusing decision surrounding Campbell Graham, explaining why the Rabbitohs centre was omitted from camp heading into the State of Origin opener.
The 23-year-old was initially selected in the Blues squad as 18th man, missing out on a starting spot in the outside backs due to the early return of Josh Addo-Carr and turnaround in form for Tom Trbojevic.
Graham has been electric for South Sydney this season, crossing for 12 tries in as many games, but will have to wait a little longer for his Origin debut.
But when the decision was made to remove Graham from the NSW squad due to injury, there were a few heads turning - especially at 4pm on Tuesday afternoon when he was named to play for the Bunnies.
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Is Campbell Graham injured?
Despite playing in all 12 games for Souths this season, Graham has been struggling with an ongoing sternum injury.
The issue has limited his training early in the week leading into games and his workload in regards to contact has been reduced.
Graham has been named in the centres for the side's Round 13 clash with the Raiders and is expected to play.
Why was Campbell Graham withdrawn from NSW Origin squad?
After previously being named as 18th man, Graham was swiftly removed from the squad on Monday morning and replaced by Penrith star Stephen Crichton.
Speaking on Freddy And The Eighth, Fittler explained the reasoning behind his decision and backed the towering centre to continue his red-hot form at club level.
“There’s a process – you weigh up everything you’ve seen over the weekend and speak to people over the weekend," he said.
"There was a Jake Trboejvic situation where he also re-injured an injury. I’ve spoken to Campbell Graham many times during the year, because we have had a lot of Souths games [on Channel Nine] and he’s just been carrying an injury.
"When I spoke to him on Sunday night, he’d had a scan that day and it was a bit worse. He was saying it was a bit more painful than it had been prior.
"If you’re the 18th man, you need to be ready and you need to be training and you need to be able to help out… that’s the job.
"We didn’t think it was beneficial to him, Souths or NSW – I think he’s playing this week, so that’s good.
"He’s been in such good form, but there are a couple of pretty good players in front of him."
The aforementioned Trbojevic will partner Rabbitohs superstar Latrell Mitchell in the centres for the series opener on May 31st.
