Mullen fears it's too late
By Christian Nicolussi | May 12, 2008 12:00am
JARROD Mullen knows all too well he has one final chance to boost his Origin claims with a solid performance for the Knights in front of Melbourne and NSW coach Craig Bellamy tonight.
Mullen was last week crunched from $101 into $7 to play the hotly contested No. 7 position for NSW against Queensland this month.
But the young halfback said last night that even if he produced a stellar 80-minute display against the premiers, his bid for an Origin recall may have come too late.
"I think the fact I had a calf injury and the whole timing of it kept me out of City-Country will make it tough for me," Mullen said.
"It's great I get to play in front of the Origin coach and I'll be out there trying to stake my claim. But the team is picked (on) Tuesday and even with a big game I don't think I'll get in.
"We'll see what happens but I think it will come down to Kurt Gidley and Brett Finch for the halfback role."
Mullen, who made his first and only appearance for NSW in the opening game last year, said that if he was overlooked for this season's opener, it would be almost impossible to appear in the remainder of the series.
"It all depends on how the halfback plays in the first game," Mullen said.
"But the way I see it is if they are picked in the position for the first game, the halfback should be good enough to play the remainder of the series."
Mullen said Origin had played on his mind but he was more determined to secure two competition points for the Knights, who have a dreadful record at Olympic Park.
Newcastle have had 144 points scored against them during their past three outings south of the border.
Mullen said he was confident his side could turn things around. The Storm have nine players backing up from Friday's Centenary Test but Mullen said Newcastle were capable of springing an upset.
Coach Brian Smith would not be drawn on Mullen's Origin chances.
"I'll leave all that to the selectors, my only concern is with my team," Smith said.
But Smith said he was delighted with the way Mullen had been playing.
Another player at rough odds of forcing his way into the Origin line-up is Ben Cross, who returns to Olympic Park for the first time since being squeezed out of Melbourne because of salary-cap restrictions. But, like Mullen, Cross said even a big game was no guarantee he would be given the nod to take on the Queenslanders.
