It has been a whirlwind week for Dolphins co-captain Isaiya Katoa, but coach Kristian Woolf insists he is right to lead the team after being on the cusp of a NSW debut.
Katoa, one of the game's best young halfbacks, spent most of this week in Blues camp on standby for NSW playmaker Mitchell Moses.
Moses was going through the final stages of his rehab from a hamstring injury that kept him out of game one of the State of Origin series.
Katoa would have slotted in on the bench for a Blues debut, but when it became clear on Wednesday afternoon that Moses, barring a mishap, would play at the MCG in game two of the Origin series, the Dolphins half flew back home.
