Tim Glasby may yet prove to be Queensland’s lucky charm with the Melbourne Storm forward pressing his claims for a call-up for the second State of Origin later this month.
Glasby was brought in to make his Origin debut in game two last year when he was tasked with shutting down NSW big man Andrew Fifita, with the Maroons going on to take out what was thought to have been an unwinnable series.
The 29-year-old wasn’t available for selection for the opening Maroons loss last Wednesday night due to a thumb injury but turned in a big performance in Melbourne’s 32-16 win over Brisbane.
Glasby said he hoped he’d done enough to force his way into the side.
“I don’t have much control over that so all I can do is play good footy here at the Storm and if the selectors and Kevvie (coach Kevin Walters) feel I have a role to play in the team than I’d be more than happy to do that,” Glasby said.
The utility forward earned praise from Storm captain and ex-Maroons skipper Cameron Smith, who said Glasby would add some starch through the middle.
Smith said while Glasby gave away size to some of his rivals, he was incredibly reliable.
“He would make a difference because there were certain periods of the game where we (Queensland) struggled in the middle defensively,” Smith said.
“That’s where Damien Cook made his break early in the game and (James) Tedesco scored the first try and then Tedesco made maybe three or four line breaks in the middle which caused us a lot of issues.”
Smith didn’t know if Walters would look to make personnel changes but said they couldn’t go wrong with Glasby.
“There were some small areas Queensland were off in that game but whether changes are needed I’m not too sure but if you put Tim Glasby in he’d do a great job.”
Star fullback Billy Slater sat out both the Origin match and Sunday’s AAMI Park clash with a hamstring issue and Storm coach Craig Bellamy said he wasn’t sure when he would be fit to play.
“You’d like to think he’d be playing next week (against the Knights) but we’re not going to take any chances, “Bellamy said.
