Taylor & Inglis SOO II Selections

The South Sydney Rabbitohs will have six people representing their states at tonight’s State of Origin II clash at ANZ Stadium, three in the maroon of Queensland and three in the sky blue of New South Wales. High profile NRL players Greg Inglis and Dave Taylor have been joined in the Queensland camp by Rabbitohs High Performance Manager and Maroons trainer Troy Thomson, looking to secure their seventh straight series victory tonight. Wearing sky blue tonight will be SG Ball and Toyota Cup Rabbitohs Tyrone Phillips, Alex Johnston and Aaron Gray who will make up a large chunk of the New South Wales under 18s backline in tonight under 18s State of Origin match, the curtain raiser to the main event at ANZ Stadium. Thomson says the Rabbitohs’ representatives are fired up and ready to go tonight. “GI (Inglis) has been training well over the past week and a half and he’s looking forward to playing tonight,” Thomson said. “He hasn’t missed any sessions this week after copping a bit of a battering against the Bulldogs. “Big Dave (Taylor) has trained really well too. He couldn’t be more excited about starting the game tonight. He’s been doing lots of extras with Cooper (Cronk) and Johnno (Thurston) so he’ll be ready to play.” Rabbitohs captain Michael Crocker is no stranger to Origin football, having represented Queensland on 13 occasions between 2003 and 2009. Crocker gave Rabbitohs TV an insight into how Inglis and Taylor will approach tonight’s game with only hours remaining until kick off. To watch Crocker’s comments on the game, plus his tip for tonight, press play on the video player above. Rabbitohs Recruitment Manager Mark Hughes says the three young players picked to play for New South Wales will benefit from the experience. “Two of our boys, Tyrone (Phillips) and Alex (Johnston) have played the majority of their footy at fullback but they’ve been selected on the wings so it will be interesting to see how they handle that,” Hughes said. “That’s a pressure position in a win-lose Origin fixture. They’re both exciting ball runners and even though their playing out of position I’m sure they will give a good account of themselves. “We’ve had a look at Tyrone and Aaron (Gray) in the under 20s and hopefully Alex gets a shot at some stage. “These guys were clear stand outs in the SG Ball team. Aaron gray can cover back row and centre, but he’s just turned 18 and the positions are quite similar these days. He’s a strong defender and loves a high work rate. “Alex is only 17 and the other two are 18 so it’s a great effort from Alex to represent his state a year young. “Tyrone is very confident, Alex is very composed and Aaron will want to get involved early and do a lot of work. “Tyrone and Alex have both had experience at the under 16s level so they have played in front of a huge crowd like tonight’s will be. “I’m looking forward to seeing how they go.” On behalf of everyone connected to the Rabbitohs we wish Greg, Dave, Alex, Tyrone, Aaron and Troy the best of luck in tonight’s interstate matches at ANZ Stadium.