Blues keep To’o in cotton wool after hamstring scare

Gibbs said even though the latest tendon injury was in the same left hamstring, the upper and lower part of the hamstring “work independently of each other”, and there was no risk of suffering further damage in the same leg.

It was not the first time To’o has ignored pain to finish a game for the Panthers. He stayed on the field for six minutes with a hamstring injury against South Sydney at the start of the season, and has admitted that by doing so he made his injury worse.

“It’s my fault, I should have come off straight away. I wanted to be out there with the brothers and help them out where I can,” To’o said before his club return.

The Blues are backing To’o to not only play, but also get through the game unscathed, sparing Kiraz having to fly to the other side of the country to be on standby.

To’o and fellow winger Zac Lomax have been outstanding over the past four games for NSW when charging the ball back early in the tackle count.

After playing just one NRL game before Origin I, To’o ran for more than 200 metres and had more than 20 hit-ups at Suncorp Stadiums.

But the Maroons did target his left wing, and had success a couple of times in the first half when To’o was forced to leap and spilled the high ball.

To’o knows he needs to be better in that area at Perth’s Optus Stadium, and given the headlines about his fitness, said he would be surprised if Queensland didn’t try their luck against him again.

“It’s a no-brainer for me. I knew they were always going to target me in game one, and all I can do is look forward to the challenge again – I love the pressure,” To’o said.

“It’s my job to catch those high balls, and I’ll be working on that.”

Loading

To’o was sin-binned for tackling Xavier Coates in the air right on half-time, and said it was agonising having to watch the start of the second half before he could return. Lomax asked coach Laurie Daley if he could switch sides and defend against Coates on the opposite side of the field before To’o returned.

“I did try to go for the ball, but we both came down safely, and that’s all I cared about [at the time],” To’o said.

“Anything could have happened to start that second half. A lot goes through your mind. You kick yourself, but I’m really grateful the boys held out for 10 minutes.”

Canterbury’s Jacob Preston and 18th man Matt Burton joined the Blues in camp on Monday, with the team to round out their preparations at Tuesday’s captain’s run at Optus Stadium. Victory to NSW will seal their second straight series, and Daley’s first since 2014.

Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.