Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan says forward Andrew Fifita could play himself into a NSW jumper with a big performance against the Warriors on Saturday.
Fifita will make his first appearance for the Sharks in almost a month after being suspended for a dangerous throw against Newcastle in round six.
The 2013 Dally M Prop of the Year made a barnstorming return in last week's City Country fixture and has immediately shot into contention for return to Origin.
"I've spoken to Laurie (Daley), I spoke to him only just before and he said he's just monitoring players and Andrew's in the mix like a lot of others so he just needs to keep performing and get Laurie's attention," Flanagan said on Friday.
"Laurie will be interested to see how Andrew goes against (Ben) Matulino and (Simon) Mannering ... (Jacob) Lillyman's going great, so it's a real good test for not just Andrew but our whole forward pack."
Flanagan also gave the Blues coach an update on the health of skipper Paul Gallen, who remains sidelined indefinitely with a hip injury.
"Gal's injury is a real strange one," he said.
"Not too many people have seen that type of injury especially in our sport so it's a bit of the unknown and we just need him to rest and repair and we'll just wait and see.
"Origin is a bit away still so we'll see how Gal goes."
Flanagan identified Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson as a major threat on Saturday, particularly after bouncing back to form for the Kiwis in their historic Test win over the Kangaroos last week.
"He played on the back of a forward pack which really dominated, you talk to most forwards and they can play off the back of that so Shaun - given time and space - he loves that. We just need to make sure we can't allow the Warriors pack to do that."
Both the Sharks and Warriors sit in the bottom quarter of the ladder after winning just three games each this season.
STATS THAT MATTER
- The Sharks have completely dominated this clash in the Shire, winning 11 of 15 games at the venue. The past two wins have been by a combined margin of 55 points.
- The Warriors have won a match in NSW since beating the Wests Tigers 24-14 at Leichhardt Oval in late 2013. They've lost their past eight matches in the state.
- Manu Vatuvei requires just one try to enter the top 15 try scorers in Premiership history. He is currently one try behind Steve Renouf, who scored 124 tries. `The Beast' has ten tries in his past nine games against the Sharks.
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