Greg Alexander's shock admission on Damien Cook amid Origin fallout

Blues advisor Greg Alexander has jumped to Brad Fittler's defence and claimed the reason Damien Cook came on at centre during Origin Game II was because of Cameron Murray's injury concerns. Fittler's job as Blues coach is hanging by a thread with names being thrown up to replace the Origin great having lost his second series in a row to Maroons coach Billy Slater.

Fittler has come under heavy scrutiny for his rotation and selections on the bench with Nicho Hynes in the first match only playing 10 minutes. In Game II, Fittler opted to use Rabbitohs No.9 Cook at centre when the Blues lost star centre Tom Trbojevic after just three minutes to injury.

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Unfortunately, Cook clearly struggled to adapt to the position and was put under pressure in the first half. At 10-0 down, Blues fans were hoping Fittler and co responded in giving Murray a chance at centre.

However, Cook remained and Fittler copped heat after the game. And Alexander admitted on Thursday night that Cook had trained at centre throughout the week in anticipation he could fill in on the edge if there was an injury.

And he also confirmed they were worries about Murray's speed and groin injury coming up against Reece Walsh. “I guess you go back to picking two hookers,” Alexander said on Fox Sports NRL 360.

“We opted to not pick an outside back on the bench or someone to cover the outside backs. That’s the first roll of the dice. Queensland do it. They pick Harry Grant on the bench. They don’t pick an outside back, so you try and fill those positions with players that you have got on your bench.

“Now Cameron Murray you would think and he was certainly an option to play in the centres. He has done it before some time ago. He has played on an edge for NSW.

“We just thought coming off a groin injury and being two wide defensively than he normally is. The player that was most dangerous for us in game one was Reece Walsh. They threw it to him coming around the back to create a three on two. We thought, I don’t know if Murray is going to be able to match Reece Walsh. We went for the speed of Cook."

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Unfortunately, this only creates more questions than answers over Fittler's selections. Many will point to a utility player like Matt Burton as a better option for the bench in the future.

It also doesn't explain why Murray, one of the Blues' best players, sat on the bench for nearly 50 minutes as the Blues went 16-0 down the Maroons. This is considering Murray and Liam Martin were the Blues' best forwards in Game I.

Murray entered Game II having not played for three weeks due to a groin injury and was only deemed fit 48 hours before the clash. However, Blues advisor Greg Alexander and Murray himself admitted he wasn't in danger of missing the showdown.

This leaves Fittler with little excuse to why the dynamic forward spent so long on the bench again when the Blues were 14-0 down with 30 minutes to go.

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