Luke Lewis believes Todd Carney will be in the mix for the NSW five-eighth spot, but the Penrith NRL skipper says the battle for the Blues’ No.6 shirt will be hard to pick.

Carney’s field goal proved to be the difference as Cronulla beat the Panthers 15-14 on Saturday and heightened calls for him to be included for Origin One in Melbourne.

The Sharks have won three successive matches since Carney was switched from halfback to five-eighth with the former Sydney Roosters player regaining his best form since winning the 2010 Dally M Medal.

Lewis was impressed by Carney’s performance against his side at Centrebet Stadium, but believes coach Ricky Stuart and the Blues’ selectors will have their work cut out choosing from some in-form players.

St George Illawarra five-eighth Jamie Soward is the incumbent and has been good this year so to Warriors’ star James Maloney.

Canberra skipper Terry Campese’s name has also been thrown into the equation.

“Toddy is a great player, his running game is outstanding and he doesn’t mind putting his head in places where others don’t want to,” Lewis told AAP.

“But there are some good five-eighths going around at the moment and players like Sowie are also playing well and will be desperate to stay in the team.

“Ricky Stuart knows the game inside out and I am sure if he does pick Toddy, he won’t let anyone down.”

Lewis is certain to be named by Stuart and he admits he cannot wait to get another chance to play against Queensland, who are looking for a seventh successive series win.

“We need to do something to beat those Maroons,” he said.

“We went close last year in the first game, won the second and got blown away a bit in the first half of the third, but there was plenty of encouragement to take us into this year’s series.”