Luke Keary has gone from being back-up singer to Axl Rose according to Andrew Johns, who has tipped the Sydney Roosters playmaker to break into the NSW team next year.
Keary established himself as one of the premier halves in the competition with his Clive Churchill Medal-winning performance in the grand final in which he was forced to take the reins from a one-armed Cooper Cronk.
The former South Sydney premiership-winner put in a performance for the ages, running the Roosters' ship as Cronk took a backseat due to his broken shoulder blade.
Johns, widely considered the greatest halfback of all time, said Keary had jumped Penrith's James Maloney in the pecking order for a NSW Origin spot next year.
"Keary next year will be in Origin," Johns told Wide World of Sports.
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"Whether it's at halfback or at five-eighth.
"I didn't know he had those tools. He's an out-and-out halfback and moving forward the Roosters have found their No.7 and they can think about who they're going to buy at No.6.
"Keary's performance was just out of this world."
The eighth Immortal said Keary was unlucky not to get a call-up into the Australian team for this month's Tests against New Zealand and Tonga and described him as being in the top three players in the game behind Kalyn Ponga and Damien Cook.
"Keary has gone from being a back-up singer to Axl Rose," Johns said.
Johns said that he had discussed with Blues coach Brad Fittler the possibility of Keary moving to No.7 and suggested that Penrith and NSW halfback Nathan Cleary's future lay at five-eighth.
"Myself and Freddy had a good chat about Keary and he's an out-and-out halfback," Johns said.
"The way Nathan Cleary played this year in Origin, I think he played more like a five-eighth and James Maloney played like a halfback.
"If you're picking your Origin team tomorrow, you'd put Keary at seven and Nathan Cleary at six."
