And former Blues halfback Brett Kimmorley thought Blake Austin could come in as the bench utility, while Glenn Lazarus has thrown his weight behind prop Shannon Boyd.

Initially, Laurie Daley indicated he was going to stick with the same players for Origin III, despite losing the series 2-0 on Wednesday, although he eased that stance on Thursday.

He'll be forced into at least one change, with South Sydney halfback Adam Reynolds looking likely to miss due to a shoulder injury.

JOEY LEILUA

The Canberra centre has been on fire this season and leads the NRL in offloads.

He's formed a lethal right-edge pairing with Raiders winger Jordan Rapana and was immediately thrown into the Origin conversation following the Blues loss to the Maroons on Wednesday.

Both NSW centres, Michael Jennings and Dylan Walker, face a nervous wait to see if Daley will be retained for the third and final game at ANZ Stadium in less than three weeks.

Daley wanted to bring him in as a development player, but Raiders coach Ricky Stuart put his foot down, insisting Leilua was too good to be considered a development player.

Raiders legend Jason Croker said Leilua was a "handful" and could "create something out of nothing".

"I'd have him in front of Dylan Walker any day, for sure. He's worked pretty hard from where he came from at Newcastle," he said.

"He wasn't fit, now he's got himself fit and he's a handful. He can create something out of nothing and he can put his winger away, which is something he's been doing with Jordan."

Kimmorley said Michael Jennings "was pretty ordinary" on Wednesday night and it was "worthwhile having a look" at Leilua.

"I think Leilua at his best is really good, I think he's still got some errors in him, but I think it's worthwhile having a look at him," Kimmorley said.

"He's a big physical thing and obviously he's a great runner of the ball. If we're going to pass the football now in the future it would be nice to have some outside backs that can create something."

Former Australia fullback Gary Belcher said Leilua's tendency to make a few errors could hold him back.

But he said the flipside to that was what he can do with the ball.

"I think he's playing really well, I don't know if he's quite ready for [Origin]. He makes a few [errors], he's not perfect defensively, but he certainly does have an impact with the ball," Belcher said.

"I don't think he'd be out of place. I'd rather he not be there, put it that way, as a Queenslander."

DOING THINGS BY HALVES

With Reynolds likely to miss, Daley needs to look for a new halfback.

Kimmorley predicted Jack Bird would slot in for Reynolds, with James Maloney remaining at five-eighth.

His feeling was the Blues would "pick and stick" rather than look to blood new players with an eye to next year's Origin series.

But with Bird moving into the starting line-up, that opens a spot for a utility back on the bench and a chance for Austin.

"Blake was probably in the mix a while back, but he seems to have faded out of that mix now," Kimmorley said.

"They'll need a new versatile player, which could be Blake Austin, it could be a nice way of introducing Blake Austin [to Origin]."

But Belcher didn't think either Austin or Sezer were ready for the Origin cauldron.

He pointed to Queensland pairing, Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston, as the level of consistency they needed to get to to be considered.

"I don't think they're ready for it. I don't think they're consistent enough for Canberra," Belcher said.

"I think they go good at certain times, but when you're looking at consistency you want to measure them against guys like Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston."

LOOKING FORWARDS

The Blues front-row was almost as quiet as a church mouse in Origin II and Lazarus said that was an area NSW needed to dominate, given the "superstar" Maroons backline.

He's a big fan of Raiders prop Paul Vaughan and said he had potential, but he felt Shannon Boyd would "revel" at Origin level.

"Boyd is a big guy in the [David] Klemmer mould ... it takes a lot of energy to bring down guys like Boyd and Klemmer that run with a lot of energy," Lazarus said.

"I'd be happy to see Boyd, Vaughan and Junior [Paulo], all of them get a go. I'd be excited to see someone like Boyd play, I think he'd revel in that atmosphere."

Croker felt the Canberra props were still a work in progress and should be brought into camp as development players.

"It'd be good for them to be involved in the squad, they're young kids you know, and hopefully they're the future of the club and they hang around," he said.

"Whether they're in the train-on squad or whatever, they played well for Country but Origin's a different beast."

NRL ROUND 16

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium, 2pm. Live on Fox Sports 1.