New South Wales Blues star Nicho Hynes has backed his halves teammate Jarome Luai ahead of the opening State of Origin clash at Accor Stadium in Sydney tomorrow night.

Hynes has revealed that he and Luai have played together before – a long time ago in another version of rugby league.

“Me and Romy have known each other for a long time, since we were young so it is good to rekindle the relationship,” Hynes said.

“We played touch footy at school… we got selected for NSW All Schools and we went to Coffs Harbour and we played against all different states in the national tournament.

“We beat Queensland in the grand final which was nice.

“It’s good to be back playing together.

“He was pretty shy back then, but he was really good value and energy for the team.

“He would get around the hotel where we were staying with his guitar, and we used to love listening to him play the guitar and sing.”