Of the 16 halfbacks or five-eighths eligible for NSW in State of Origin, Maloney has been in the best form and only needs to perform well for Country to secure a recall to the Blues team after being overlooked for the past two seasons.

Who will partner Maloney at the scrum base has now overtaken concerns about the Cronulla playmaker having the most missed tackles in the NRL as Daley's most pressing selection issue.

Despite publicly challenging Canterbury five-eighth Josh Reynolds and Newcastle halfback Trent Hodkinson to step up and secure the halves jobs, neither has done so but nor has any of the other contenders put his hand up to claim a place in the team.

Sydney Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce last weekend turned in arguably the best performance by a NSW-eligible playmaker since the 70 minutes before South Sydney's Adam Reynolds broke his jaw in the round one match against the Roosters, but it was Pearce's first appearance of the season and the Knights are hardly an opposition against whom State of Origin form can be gauged.

There are suggestions Pearce wants to focus on his continued rehabilitation after missing the first eight rounds due to a suspension for the now infamous Australia Day incident that forced him to address alcohol issues but those close to him say he is only thinking of the Roosters next match against Gold Coast on Sunday week and hasn't made any decision about Origin.

Daley has also not yet pencilled Pearce to the Blues team, which is now likely to feature Penrith captain Matt Moylan in the No.1 jersey after Wests Tigers fullback James Tedesco was ruled out of Origin I with a shoulder injury.

The other Blues halves contenders are:

• Hodkinson, the incumbent but he has failed to make an impact since moving to Newcastle this season;
• Josh Reynolds, whose form has dropped off since the start of the season;
• Adam Reynolds, the favourite for the No.7 jersey if he can regain confidence after fears of a second broken jaw in his comeback game two weeks ago;
• Jack Bird, the Sharks utility who will play halfback for Country but is likely to be selected on the NSW bench; and
• Aidan Sezer, the Canberra playmaker who will play five-eighth for City in Sunday's match at Tamworth.

Wests Tigers pair Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses, Cronulla's Chad Townsend, Penrith veteran Jamie Soward and Peter Wallace, Rabbitohs five-eighth Luke Keary, Manly's Dylan Walker, Gold Coast halfback Ty Roberts, Melbourne five-eighth Blake Green, Raiders duo Blake Austin and Sam Williams and St George Illawarra's Josh McCrone are other NSW-eligible playmakers.

Meanwhile, the City-Country concept is all but guaranteed to be scrapped after next year as it can no longer be labelled a meaningful selection trial for the NSW team, with only Maloney, Bird, Sezer, Country backrowers Boyd Cordner and Tyson Frizzell, City winger Josh Mansour, hooker Nathan Peats and second-rower Bryce Cartwright likely to be considered for Origin I.

The final death knell for the match was the withdrawal of a long list of players headed by Adam Reynolds, Josh Reynolds, James Roberts, Lachlan Coote, Mitch Rein, Austin and Moylan, and it is believed the money saved from staging the match will be used to entice NRL clubs to play more matches in country areas.

The inability of Pacific nations to field their strongest teams in Saturday night's double-header at Pirtek Stadium is also the subject of much debate, with Brisbane and England coach Wayne Bennett accused of telling Anthony Milford not to play for Samoa against Tonga.

However, Samoa have been boosted by the inclusion of captain Frank Pritchard, who was released by Super League club Hull FC to play alongside brother Kayser and former Canterbury teammate Sam Kasiano, with whom he performed a remarkable trysaving tackle on Tonga winger Jorge Taufua to secure last year's 18-16 win.

Tonga captain Sika Manu will also miss Hull FC's Challenge Cup clash with St Helens this weekend to lead his country in the second match at Pirtek Stadium, which follows the Fiji-Papua New Guinea Test.