LeagueNews.co | Cooper McEnroe
Ahead of the State of Origin decider, NSW Blues performance manager Frank Ponissi announced that Nathan Cleary will not be goal-kicking, despite being capable of kicking in general play.
Cleary, along with teammates Brian To'o and Payne Haas, is dealing with minor injuries before Wednesday's match.
Reports indicate that Haas and To'o have missed training sessions leading up to the captain's run on Tuesday, raising concerns about their fitness.
Cleary has been coping with a groin injury, which affected his performance during Game 2 in Perth.
He injured this groin during a prior captain's run, prompting him to pass the kicking duties to Zac Lomax.
Throughout the series, both Cleary and Lomax have struggled with goal-kicking, converting only four out of nine attempts across two games.
Despite Cleary holding the best club-level goal-kicking record of any NSW player, uncertainty remained regarding his goal-kicking responsibilities due to the injury.
In a Monday morning interview with SEN Radio, Ponissi confirmed Cleary's goal-kicking status: "Yeah, probably unlikely he will be doing the kicking.
We are going to stick with Zac Lomax.
But everything else with Nathan, he hasn't missed a beat at training...he hasn't had to be managed in terms of his workload.
General play kicking he is fine, it's just goal-kicking...he won't be kicking."
The decision to keep Cleary from goal-kicking is a strategic move, considering the physical condition of several players and the importance of the decider.