'Hasn't progressed': Laurie Daley sheds light on 'tricky' Brian To'o hamstring injury
Updated . First published
Laurie Daley is confident Brian To'o will still be fit to take his place on the Blues wing in Origin II, despite lingering injury concerns.
In-form Bulldogs winger Jacob Kiraz was called into the camp on Wednesday as To'o remains on ice with a hamstring niggle.
Speaking on Nine's Today on Thursday morning, Daley clarified the injury hadn't "flared up", but To'o wasn't recovering the way Blues medicos had hoped.
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"We thought earlier in the week Brian would be OK ... but it just hasn't progressed as far as what we need him to," he said.
"We're still confident that he'll be OK, but we thought it'd be better off to have Jacob come here on standby if Brian doesn't get up."
Brian To'o is in a race to be fit for Origin II with a hamstring niggle. Getty
Hamstring niggles are notoriously fickle injuries to recover from and can be difficult to manage.
"With hamstrings, they're tricky things. You want to make sure they're 100 per cent right to go," Daley explained.
"You can get through training. But then, of course game night, you don't want to injure yourself and then put the team at risk.
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"We're just going to have to weigh up all those factors towards the end of the week."
Daley said Kiraz would train with the Blues squad for the first time on Thursday morning.
To'o was enormous in the series opener for the Blues, running for a game-high 225 metres and scoring a try in a clinical victory at Suncorp Stadium.
Hamstring niggles have forced To'o to miss plenty of football this season.
The 26-year-old missed Penrith's first game of the year in Las Vegas but returned for round two, only to be ruled out for six weeks after aggravating the injury.
Since his return in round 10, Penrith have won two games and drawn another against North Queensland with To'o on the field.
Kiraz meanwhile has been in in stellar form for Canterbury, who sit atop the NRL ladder at the midway point of the season.
The local junior has scored four tries and broken 46 tackles in seven appearances.
Bulldogs teammate Matt Burton is also part of the Blues squad and could fill a role in the outside backs should To'o be deemed not fit to play.