Josh Reynolds' chances of retaining his NSW Origin No.6 jersey have been dealt a near-fatal blow after he was twice put on report in Country's 34-22 win over City in Wagga Wagga on Sunday.
Reynolds will come under heavy scrutiny from the NRL match review committee after he was put on report for tripping Country's Tariq Sims in the 51st minute.
He was also cited for striking David Mead with a high shot in the 78th minute.
Reynolds had gone into the match hoping to prove his worth to NSW coach Laurie Daley who was amongst the sold out crowd of 9127 at McDonalds Park but was instead out-pointed by his opposite number James Maloney.
Maloney was awarded man of the match after setting up three tries, had a hand in another and steered his side around well.
Reynolds will now endure a nervous wait as any penalty of more than two games automatically rules him out of Origin but based on his overall performance against Country he may have struggled for a spot anyway.
City coach Brad Fittler said Reynolds, who received a two-week suspension for tripping Ben Barba in 2014, needed to learn to control his aggression.
"I've seen him do that before," Fittler said.
"Phil Gould used to have a good saying `If you grab the tail, you get the whole cat'.
"And that's like him every game. You get the whole cat with him all the time.
"I'm sure they'll have a good look at it, the review committee, and I wish him all the best."
While leading into the match most of the focus was on the duel between Maloney and Reynolds, Blake Austin was a standout performer and was unlucky not to receive man of the match.
The Canberra half scored three tries and made two try-saving tackles.
City shot out to an early 10-nil lead thanks to two Austin tries before Maloney steadied the ship for Country.
Maloney came in for some heavy treatment from the City defence but shrugged off the pressure to breath life into the game.
First he kicked for James McManus who soared above James Tedesco to score. The Sydney Roosters' half then had a hand in Akuila Uate's try which put the Country side up 12-10 at halftime.
"I thought (Maloney) was in everything," Country coach Trent Barrett said.
"We got caught on the hop at the start with a couple of little things but James steadied the ship with his kicking. There was a lot of pressure on him being our sole kicker.
"He did his Origin chances no harm. As did all of our blokes. They played really tough."
City front-rower Andrew Fifita appears to have secured an Origin jumper with a barnstorming display in which he made a game-high 183 metres from 19 carries and 32 tackles.
Country's Josh Jackson put his hand up for an Origin debut when he set up David Mead in a strong display.
His Country back-row teammates Joel Thompson and Tyson Frizell also gave Blues coach Laurie Daley plenty of food for thought.
City got within two points when Austin got his third in the 64th minute however tries to Canberra pair Jack Wighton and Jarrod Croker sealed the win for Country.
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