Mitchell Moses will put his play-making ego aside in a new State of Origin partnership with Nathan Cleary, adamant the halfbacks can co-exist for NSW.

After a week of rain-drenched preparations at home, the Blues trained at sunny Ballymore in Brisbane on Monday.

Parramatta halfback Moses fine-tuned his fresh partnership with Penrith No.7 Cleary in an opposed session with Queensland Cup outfit Wynnum Manly.

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All eyes were on prop Payne Haas, who remains under an injury cloud with a quadriceps niggle.

But star centre Stephen Crichton added to the Blues’ headaches when he too limped off early with his upper leg wrapped in ice.

Cleary and Moses have worn the Blues’ No.7 in all but two of 21 Origins since 2018, but will play together for the first time after returning coach Laurie Daley overlooked Cleary’s former Penrith sidekick Jarome Luai.

It will mark just the sixth game in 129 Origins, spanning 45 years — and the first time in a decade — that NSW have partnered two traditional No.7s in the halves.

Moses will defend on the unfamiliar left side and said he had no problem sharing the stage with the Panthers’ puppet master.

“Every half has an ego, otherwise you wouldn’t be in the position, to be honest,” he said.

“It’s about putting it to the side and what’s best for the team, and we’re going to do that.

“It’s very clear, been clear from day one. We sat down, spoke about what’s going on, what the game plan is and worked it out, and hopefully we’ll put it into work on Wednesday.”

Exactly what “it” is remains a mystery, with the Blues’ training sessions mostly behind closed doors.

“Do you want to know everything?” Moses smiled.

“You’ll have to see Wednesday night I guess, we know what we’re trying to do here.”

The previous duo of halves in a NSW side was Trent Hodkinson and Mitchell Pearce in 2015.

Outside of that, Des Hasler played one game with each of Greg Alexander and Ricky Stuart in 1989 and 1990.

For the past week, Moses and Cleary have been adamant striking the right balance as a combination won’t be an issue.

Almost immediately upon walking into camp Moses accepted the role of being a running five-eighth, handing on-ball conductor duties to Cleary.

Moses will defend on the left, while both will likely have the freedom to attack on both sides.

In theory, the plan seems perfect. Moses and Cleary are two of the best playmakers in the NRL and both thrive in big moments.

How it works in practice may determine the fate of this series.

“Our situation was similar to Nathan and Mitch,” Hodkinson said.

“Mitch is like that Pearcey style, he’s that hybrid half. He has a very strong running game, as does Nathan.

“But Nathan’s your more structured, direction type of halfback. So I think it really works.

“We did really well in that 2015 series.”

In the lead up to 2015, Pearce handed controlling duties to Hodkinson.

The pair linked up for a try in Origin I, but Pearce still had 18 more touches than the listed No.7 in the 11-10 loss.

And with the game in the balance, NSW fluffed a shot at field goal when Hodkinson was set for the shot but Pearce received the ball and flung it out wide.

Three weeks later, the touches evened out as NSW had their best attacking night since 2005 with a 26-18 win in Melbourne.

“That just comes with time together,” Hodkinson said.

“You don’t have a whole lot of time in camp. You have sessions, but an actual Origin game is totally different.

“So when you get the feel of that in game one ... that definitely made it easier.

“Game one to game two, they’ll just build some more confidence. Hopefully they can get it going a lot earlier though.”

NSW, with little good ball to attack with, were beaten 52-6 in the 2015 decider.

- With Scott Bailey