Former NSW skipper Steve Mortimer, recently recruited to help mentor the next generation of Blues, has offered some sage New Year's Eve advice to coach Laurie Daley - beg Jamie Lyon to return to the brotherhood.

Lyon, who captained Manly in the grand final and was named the Dally M centre of the year, played his last game of representative football in 2010. He was, however, identified by Mortimer - the man who captained NSW to their first State of Origin series victory in 1985 - as the type of player needed to help end the stranglehold Queensland had held on the interstate series since 2006.

He'd be No.1: Former NSW captain Steve Mortimer says the Blues should do all they can to convince Jamie Lyon to return to the fray. Credit:Getty Images

"Jamie Lyon is the first player I would pick for NSW," Mortimer told Fairfax Media. "I think Laurie Daley and the NSWRL ought to meet with him face-to-face and ask that he be ready to play for the Blues again."

Lyon knocked back a similar overture made to him over the phone last year by Daley's predecessor Ricky Stuart and it is understood he rejected a similar offer to make himself available for the Kangaroos before last month's triumphant World Cup campaign in England. In a frank admission Lyon told Stuart he was reluctant to play representative football again because he was still scarred by the savage criticism levelled at him from different quarters in 2007 when he returned to the NRL from his stint with English Super League team St Helens and his selection in numerous teams was questioned.