Former New South Wales and Australian halfback Brett Kimmorley has offered new NSW and Bulldogs halves Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds some words of wisdom ahead of their State of Origin showdown at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night.
While Reynolds and Hodkinson will unbelievably be the Blues' 16th halves partnership since 2006, NSW coach Laurie Daley has picked the in-form duo to do a job for the Blues with the Bulldogs currently boasting a seven-game winning streak.
Kimmorley, who spent two seasons at Belmore as an assistant coach of the Bulldogs following his retirement, says the pair's prosperous partnership at club level will only transcend well into Origin football.
"I'm excited for Hodkinson and Reynolds. They complement each other extremely well. Trent is that calm and composed type of guy that you want to be around and he's a smart footballer," Kimmorley told NRL.com.
"Then obviously you have Josh who is that energetic, enthusiastic type of bloke that people say had to be picked somewhere anyway.
"They play quite a very structured game at Canterbury and they have very little errors so I don't think it's about overplaying your hand in Origin.
"You have to play to your strengths and hold that calmness and composure they seem to do at Canterbury and don't play the game before it arrives because it can be quite an intimidating and daunting build-up over the 10 days."
Asked on his thoughts about the New South Wales team in general, the 10-time NSW representative seemed very confident the Blues could do a job this series as they look to finally break an eight-year drought.
"I think they have picked a great side. Obviously [Laurie's] picked... a very good defensive team and some good attacking players. Obviously they have combinations on the left and right edge," Kimmorley said.
"It's probably nearly a defining year where Jarryd Hayne maybe puts his stamp on being not only an enormous club player and an Australian player but again the arena you have to pride yourself on is Origin, and it would be great to see him this year to make a stamp for us to get the victory."
