Laurie Daley has staked his entire Origin coaching legacy on one selection.

Leaving Manly wrecking ball Haumole Olakau’atu out of his side for Wednesday’s game two is either an act of sheer madness or a stroke of utter genius.

We won’t know until the fulltime siren sounds at the MCG.

If NSW wins the game and the series – and Olakau’atu’s replacement Dylan Lucas thrives in his baptism of fire – Loz will never have to buy another beer in NSW again.

His controversial decision will have been vindicated and he’d be entitled to give an “up yours” to all the critics.

But if it backfires and the Blues lose, I’d hate to be in his shoes.

The media and fans will be into him for changing a winning side and it will dominate coverage leading into the series-deciding game three.

Daley and his players will be asked time and time again if the Olakau’atu non-selection cost them game two.

There will be no escape.

My thoughts?

I was ready to book Laurie into OPSM for an eye check because from where I sit, big Haumole did enough to warrant selection for Origin II.

He backed up a decent enough performance in game one with a great game for Manly against the Bunnies eight days later.

Souths, like a lot of sides, just had no answer to his power on that right edge.

The knock on Olakau’atu is he’s not big on the one percenters.

There were concerns with his kick chase, defensive decisions and general fitness in game one.

I also read he’s not big on 10-day camps and becomes a bit restless.

It was interesting to see his club coach Kieran Foran drive all the way from the northern beaches to Homebush to give his big second-rower a hug and words of support and encouragement.

That tells me a lot.

When it comes to selections, I always think of the opposition and who they would least like to face.

I reckon the Queenslanders would have been doing handstands – not headstands because that’s too difficult with two noggins – over Olakau’atu’s omission.

I’d want him in my side for a match where the Maroons will stop at nothing to win and level the series.

They will love the fact Lucas is on debut and playing on a different side of the field to what he’s used to at club level.

They will look to exploit him in defence at every opportunity.

Good luck, young fella.

I also have concerns over Mitchell Moses.

Will that hamstring of his last the distance and is there a little bit of sameness having him and Nathan Cleary in the halves?

Both are great players when running a side themselves but they’ve only played the one game together.

I’d have stuck with Ethan Strange at 6 and put Moses on the bench in case of emergency.

Casey McLean is a big loss but I don’t mind seeing Tolu Koula in the centres and Mark Nawaqanitawase on the wing.

The Roosters’ big man is an absolute freak and I reckon we are about to witness one of the great Origin debuts.

The Blues just have to get the job done in Melbourne.

We don’t want a series decider in front of 50,000 ferals at Suncorp Stadium - and I don’t think we’ll get one.

As long as NSW sorts out it starts to games and doesn’t gift Queensland a 20-point lead, it’s the Blues by six for mine.

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED

Brisbane will soon join that infamous list of clubs to have won the comp one year and not made the finals the next.

You can put a fork in them because they are done after that embarrassing loss to South Sydney on Thursday night.

And with that will come extreme pressure on coach Michael Maguire.

Has a coach ever been punted 12 months after winning a premiership?

We might be about to find out unless there is a dramatic revival.

I know they had a lot of frontline players missing against Souths but so did the Bunnies.

The premiers played like they’d rather be anywhere else than in the middle of Accor Stadium.

Fancy having 48 points put on you when your season is on the line.

They now need to win seven of their last 10 matches to be any hope of making the play-offs but you’d be a brave bloke to back them in.

The majority of those games are against top eight teams and it will take a major form reversal for them to be a hope in any of them.

Michael Maguire-coached teams are usually up for the contest but these blokes are disrespecting the boss – and their fans – by dishing up this rubbish.

Maybe Madge needs to get them back on the grog.

It worked for the Broncos last year when they were in need of a mid-season spark and had a bonding session at a Manly pub.

It’s at least worth a try before last drinks are officially called on their premiership defence.