The NSW Blues' greatest coach, Phil Gould, has labelled Trent Merrin a future NSW captain, and the Blues enforcer is taking his first steps to one day leading his state after accepting more responsibility this series.
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Despite being 25, Merrin now considers himself a senior member of a Blues pack that no longer features season veterans including Greg Bird, Paul Gallen, Luke Lewis and Anthony Watmough. Gould wrote in his Fairfax Media column on Wednesday that he believed Merrin "will one day be a NSW captain". Merrin has put his hand up to lead the side, after emerging as a leader this series.
"It would be awesome to get in that position," Merrin said. "It's going to be a lot of hard work and it's something that doesn't just happen overnight.
"It's just maturity now being in this team for a while. When you come into camp and you don't have guys like Gal, Lewie, Birdy and Choc [Watmough] at training, you've got no option but to stand up. It's been great. It's something you look forward to.
"When you get debutants coming in and young boys in the team you have no option but to put your hand up for the leadership role because you want this group of men to head in the right direction and that needs to happen sooner rather than later."
Merrin has focused a lot of his attention on debutant Josh Jackson. Jackson and David Klemmer will make their Origin debut on Wednesday.
Jackson is starting at lock in place of injured skipper Gallen, a role many thought would go to Merrin. The pair were roommates for the first night of camp.
"I was supposed to room with Josh, but we got stitched up with two single beds," Merrin said. "They had to put us in our own rooms.
"I've been spending a lot of time with the younger boys and the debutants. Hanging around them, there is a lot of maturity compared to when I first came into camp. It's awesome to see the level of professionalism they come into camp with. I haven't had to say too much to them. These debutants have already played for their country. They know how to play big games and know how to get themselves mentally prepared for a game like this."
Merrin headlines a NSW interchange bench that features big forwards including Klemmer, Andrew Fifita and Boyd Cordner. The St George Illawarra lock said the reserves had spoken about shifting the game in the Blues' favour when they take to the field.
"When you look around we have some great players there that are great ball runners and defenders," Merrin said. "We know we have to keep the intensity up and try and change the game. It's a big ask on us, but we are composed and we know what we have to do. We just have to put it into training."
