NSW stalwart Isaah Yeo says he’s “gutted” Penrith teammate Dylan Edwards won’t get the chance to make his State of Origin debut but he’s still “fronting up” in a bid to keep the bold new energy buzzing in a Blues outfit which welcomes back former captain James Tedesco.
Edwards picked up a quad injury while doing extras at training, preparing for his first crack at fullback for the Blues on the back of four years of club dominance which couldn’t be ignored for any longer.
Despite missing his debut, it’s hoped he’ll return in time to make himself available for game two on June 26 in Melbourne and the last-gasp injury left Penrith teammate Yeo feeling for his mate.
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“I felt like it was a long time coming for him and then he finally got his opportunity and then he gets (hurt),” Yeo said.
“Even the way he did it, he did it doing some extras trying to do the right thing at the end of training. I’m gutted for him and the opportunity he had, but at the same time, it’s not often you get to bring a person with the calibre of ‘Ted’ into it.”
Edwards is one of the most humble players in the NRL who keeps everything close to his chest, but even Yeo could tell his close mate was devastated to miss out.
But Edwards did the team thing and put his hand up immediately when he knew something was wrong, rather than try to hide it and play through the pain which could have backfired during the game given the Blues don’t currently have an outside back on the bench.
“He was as gutted as he can be in this environment,” Yeo said.
“It’s all done now and we have to move on, but he’s still in camp which is a credit to Madge (NSW coach Michael Maguire) and to Dyl as a person because it probably would’ve been easy to go and hide away at home for a few days.
“He’s still fronting up and doing his bit for the team, and that’s the kind of person he is and the environment that we’re trying to build here.
“You don’t want to go into (the game) with a niggle and then have to pull you off after five or 10 minutes.
“He did the right thing by flagging it to see what was wrong, but the scan didn’t come back crash hot. I’m disappointed for him, but this is something he could have withheld, but then you wouldn’t know what would happen during the game.”
Losing a key spine player just days out from the series opener would usually throw a campaign into disarray, but it helps enormously when you’re able to turn to a man who has been there for the previous 22 Origins.
Yeo dismissed any suggestions of animosity given Tedesco had been dropped for Wednesday’s game, with the former Blues skipper providing stability and leadership to a side looking to end Queensland’s two years of dominance.
“It’s not too often that you get someone like Ted who will play his 23rd game on the bounce,” he said.
“He’s captained his state and had success with NSW, so it’s a seamless transition in that he’s played with a lot of the boys before so the systems are all pretty similar.
“We’re very lucky in that regard that for something like that to happen so late, we’re able to bring in someone with his calibre and it’s happened so seamlessly.”