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Moylan prepares for another Cronk barrage

Blues fullback Matt Moylan admits he wasn't happy with a couple of errors under the high ball in his State of Origin debut.

Matt Moylan of the Blues
NSW's Matt Moylan says he's been working feverishly on his skills under the high ball for Origin II. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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There would be more than a handful of NSW State of Origin players, and coaches, who would have recurring nightmares about Queensland star Cooper Cronk - but not Matt Moylan.

After a mixed outing on debut in last week's series-opening loss to Queensland, the incumbent Blues' No.1 has all been assured by coach Laurie Daley of a second Origin jumper in Brisbane.

And it would be the third time in just three weeks the Penrith captain would be met by a bombing barrage from Maroons halfback Cronk, who peppered Moylan a second time in last week's NRL loss to Melbourne.

"Playing fullback, you expect to get high balls every week. It's nothing new and something I knew was going to happen," Moylan said on Tuesday.

"It happened again when we played Melbourne on the weekend, so it's nothing really new to a fullback copping a few bombs. You always want to play against the best players and test yourself there."

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Most pundits gave the 24-year-old a pass mark for his Origin debut, proving a constant danger with the ball in attack but looking shaky under Cronk's high balls.

He also made team-highs in both metres (143) and carries (18).

Moylan said he had been working feverishly on eradicating those errors from his game.

"Obviously, there was a few mistakes I made where I wasn't too happy on. But I'm out here trying to fix that and work on all those areas and make sure they're up to scratch," he said.

Panthers teammate and former NSW playmaker Jamie Soward believed Moylan was one of the Blues' best in a beaten side and backed him to hold off a now-healthy James Tedesco and keep his Origin spot.

"Anyone that knows the game and watched the game last Wednesday night knows that Matt Moylan was one of the top NSW players," Soward said.

"James Tedesco's a fantastic player. I know he's been off with injury but Moyza'd be pretty hard done by if he got dropped after having a game like that.

"There's stuff he needs to work on if NSW are going to win game two, and he knows that.

"The thing I like about Moyza is he's open about his game and he came in and I thought, for a two-day back-up, was one of our best on Saturday night."


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