This Maroons star beat Casey McLean cold. It set up his rise to Origin’s toughest role

Like everything in Casey McLean’s rugby league emergence, it has happened in rapid time. Twenty-three minutes of jaw-dropping bomb defusals and power-running out wide announced his Origin arrival last month. The 20-year-old’s swift defensive improvement for Penrith now posits him into the NSW starting side in the game’s toughest position to defend. He has sat out the Blues’ first two training sessions this week to rest an ankle impingement from last weekend, but is expected to take his place on the left-edge in Saturday’s hit-out. McLean replaces Stephen Crichton – the NSW mainstay who has made shutting down attacking play sexier than ever, even marking two Queenslanders at once in last year’s series opener. McLean marks up on Rob Toia, the Queensland and Roosters centre who left him for dead in late-March. “And that miss on Rob Toia earlier in the season, maybe last year, that would’ve made him go into his shell,” NSW and Panthers skipper Isaah Yeo says. “He was beaten cold, and once that happens, you can become passive. But he was still attacking and aggressive with his defence and I think that confidence is his real progression in very quick time. “I think that showed in Origin I. He’s not a winger, but on debut he was chasing after the game and his first involvement was going towards the ball and owning the moment. “You have that progression naturally as you get older and more experienced, but it’s pretty impressive how quickly Casey’s game is developing.” McLean was just 14 years old when Yeo, Nathan Cleary, Brian To’o and co played the first grand final of Penrith’s rolling dynasty. His left-edge combination with fellow rising star Blaize Talagi is a key facet of the Panthers perennial powerhouse status flowing on for another generation. Especially given the stark defensive improvement from the two youngsters, after opposition attacks picked them out as Penrith’s defensive weak link to start the season. McLean’s back-up effort from that short but supremely sweet Origin debut put his progress on full show. Two tries in the best game of the season helped set up the Panthers spell-binding round 13 win over the Warriors. His clutch 78th minute shut down of livewire fullback Taine Tuaupiki sealed it. Sat side-by-side with McLean’s miss on Toia 10 weeks earlier, the contrast is stark. “It comes down to our training at Penrith,” McLean says. “Being able to build a combination with those around me and [building] the trust that we have with one another. “Every rep that we do at training, you’ve got to treat it like it’s a game.