The New South Wales Blues are set to rejig their Origin camp structure in 2023 following an “extensive review”.
According to SEN’s Michelle Bishop, the Blues are scrapping pre-game stints in coastal towns for away games, instead preferring to prepare for each contest at home in Coogee.
Last campaign, the Blues sent considerable time in Scarborough and Kingscliff ahead of games in Perth and Brisbane respectively, but those getaways will now be a thing of the past.
“No travel, no interstate or north coast travel for the Blues,” Bishop said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“They’ll remain in Sydney in an attempt to change things up and get things right to tackle Queensland.
“Camps will be based in Coogee for all three games in 2023.
“This extensive review into the series has found that camps are little bit too long, so they’ll be shortened.
“An interesting one is families need to be included, whether that’s popping in for a barbecue or something else.
“I can vouch for that, you often see the same sort of players, Api Koroisau, Jack Wighton, on their phones, checking in on their kids.
“No stays on the coastal town of Scarborough, no 10-day stay at Kingscliff.
“Who is responsible? Brad Fittler, Paul McGregor, Danny Buderus, Peter Parr and you Brandy (Greg Alexander).
“You’ve had input, tell us about it, why?”
As one of the key figures who decided on the new camp structure, Greg Alexander said the Blues are simply going back to what worked for the side prior to the COVID-affected 2020 season.
“We’ve had two years of lockdowns, restrictions, players in bubbles,” Alexander said.
“We used to do this before COVID, we’d stay at Coogee, we’d have the families come in for lunch so we’re just going back to what used to happen before 2020.”
The 2023 Origin series will take place in Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.