Could NSW be set to next year unleash their 20th State of Origin halves pairing since 2006?
Just hours after being appointed, newly minted NSW coach Brad Fittler touted young guns Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses as possible debutants next year.
Fittler effectively put incumbent playmakers James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce on notice on Friday that they were under pressure from the Blues' generation next.
Fittler is an unabashed fan of Penrith No.7 Cleary, who he said wouldn't look out of place in a Blues jumper, despite being just 20-years-old.
He also said he would consider Parramatta's Moses, who was a part of the Lebanon side he helped guide to the World Cup quarter-finals.
Maloney will join Cleary at the Panthers next year after parting ways with Cronulla while Pearce has been released by the Sydney Roosters and is expected to join Manly.
Not only must both quickly find their feet at new clubs in 2018, Fittler said he wanted pressure for positions and Maloney and Pearce were not immune.
"(Cleary) is like Mitch Moses, he's putting pressure on everyone," Fittler said.
"The way he's composed under pressure, his football is designed for State of Origin.
"He's only been playing a couple of years, his body is in really good shape at the moment. It's still a long way away."
Since Queensland's reign of domination - which has included 11 series wins in 12 years - began in 2006 the Blues have gone through 19 sets of halves.
During that time only Pearce and Maloney have teamed in multiple series, in 2017 and 2013.
Pearce was made somewhat of a scapegoat after the Blues lost the seemingly unlosable series this year and is under pressure to retain his spot.
Fittler spoke glowingly of Moses, who showed his class during the Cedars' surprise run to the knockout stage of the World Cup.
Moses proved himself a match-winner in Lebanon's tournament-opening win over France in which he nailed a deadlock-breaking field goal and scored a game-sealing try, all in the last three minutes.
"He came up with some really big moments. He was outstanding," Fittler said of Moses.
"It just puts pressure on the current halves. The fact is he was playing in a side that was going backwards most of the time.
"We were just hanging on for a lot of the games and he came up with those big moments. He showed so much more than I thought he had."
