Tyrone Peachey has spent the past month getting a crash course in dummy-half play to give the Blues more running potency around the ruck than they have previously enjoyed over the last decade.
NSW advisor Greg Alexander started one-on-one sessions with Peachey a month out from his naming in the sky blue No.17 jumper, telling the Panthers live wire: "If you're a chance to make the side you need to sharpen up your dummy-half work."
Peachey has done just that, first with Alexander at Penrith, and then with NSW assistant and No.9 legend Danny Buderus since arriving in camp.
With fellow debutant Damien Cook able to clock upwards of 35 km/h and regarded as one of the game's most lethal running rakes, the prospect of he and Peachey working at hooker casts back to when Craig Wing was carving up Queensland's ruck in the mid-2000s.
Exactly how next Wednesday's series opener plays out will dictate where and when Peachey takes to the MCG. But the 26-year-old would relish the prospect of combining with Cook for a one-two punch out of dummy-half.
"Freddy (coach Brad Fittler) doesn't know what position I'm playing yet," Peachey said.
"If Cookie plays 80 minutes I'll be playing in the middle but it depends on how he goes. If there's no injuries I could be playing anything, so I've just got to be ready.
"If I did get on in the first half that'd be awesome and I'd just try and get around those Queensland forwards, when they get a bit tired. That's when I could get on there with Cookie and Tedesco and try and really explode.
"I was saying to Cookie, 'It'd be awesome if we could get on at the same time, it'd be pretty dangerous'. It just depends how the game pans out."
Peachey is well-accustomed to coming off the bench – 45 of his 104 NRL games have started there - but admits a long wait to get into the contest can still test his patience.
Playing that exact role for Penrith against the Rabbitohs earlier this year, Peachey paced up and down the sidelines as the crowd bayed for his injection into the contest.
That game it took over an hour for Peachey to be called upon, but it was worth the wait as he scored a match-winning try from a roving middle role.
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"I've got a bit of experience there, I hope I don’t have to wait that long to get on the field," Peachey said.
"But it (will be) the same as when I play bench for Penrith.
"They don't know where I'm going to be playing. I just try to learn the plays during the week, everything I need to know and hopefully come game day I'll hopefully perform in whatever position to play."
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