Blues coach Brad Fittler has blatantly ignored Wayne Bennett's blunt assessment of NSW's halves situation after the South Sydney mentor warned against selecting incumbent duo James Maloney and Nathan Cleary.
After the Rabbitohs earned two competition points in the nation's capital on Saturday night, Bennett was asked if five-eighth Cody Walker - who scored his 11th try of the year - had done enough to warrant Blues selection.
But instead of giving a reference for his player, Bennett shot down the under fire Penrith halves duo and urged Fittler to look elsewhere, perhaps pointing him in the direction of Redfern.
“In all fairness to everybody, and I’ll say what no one else wants to say, they cannot pick the half-back and five-eighth from last year,'' Bennett said.
“Now what they do after that I don’t know but they’re key players in that club (Penrith) and the club’s not playing well, and they’re not playing well.
“And there’s too many quality players in this competition that happen to wear NSW jerseys for those guys to have to be picked.”
Fittler refused to buy into Bennett's advice, arguing his agenda is biased as long as he is in charge of Walker and halfback Adam Reynolds.
“He’s obviously referring to his halves who are playing outstanding at the moment. They’re without doubt the best halves in the competition,” Fittler told Channel Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show.
“So when he speaks about State of Origin sitting there with his Souths jacket on, I don’t think he has the best will for New South Wales necessarily when he’s giving his advice.
“I really respect and appreciate Wayne’s thoughts and I love how when he wants to poke his nose into Origin, he does, but when he was talking then he was really boosting the performance of his halves, which thoroughly deserve boosting. They were absolutely outstanding.”
Last week, various reports suggested Reynolds had leapforgged Cleary on the Origin pecking order after Penrith's worst start to a season since 2002, while 32-year-old Maloney was no hope of a recall.
The latter's jersey is almost certain to be handed over to red-hot Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary who, besides Cameron Munster, is the in-form playmaker of the competition, leaving Walker to fight it out for a utility spot.
Names such as Jack Wighton, Tyrone Peachey and Victor Radley have all been tossed up, while fill-in Cowboys five-eighth John Asiata surprisingly received a mention.
Fittler said a case of horrible luck would have to strike the Blues for Asiata to squeeze in.
“He’s a wonderful footy player. He’s got so much footy in him. I think the way they use him at the moment with Taumalolo and giving him the passing and distributing through the middle,” Fittler said.
“He’d need a bit of luck in terms of an injury or two. They’re not going that great, the Cowboys. Given the players they’ve got I don’t think they’re living up to expectation. But he’s a really good footy player.”
