WORLD Cup jerseys will go on the line in Wednesday’s Origin decider and Wade Graham has pleaded with Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga to reward form and big game success when he picks his squad in October.

Despite winning the 2016 grand final, just two Cronulla players were included in Meninga’s Four Nations squad of 24, with Valentine Holmes the only Sharks star to force his way into Australia’s best 17.

James Maloney toured as a backup to star halves Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston but that was the extent of Cronulla’s representation, with Andrew Fifita controversially left out for disciplinary reasons, Jack Bird unavailable due to injury and Graham missing out on selection.

It didn’t go unnoticed by the hard-hitting backrower, who has called on Meninga to stick by his pledge to pick his World Cup squad on form and be guided by performances in Origin and NRL finals.

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Andrew Fifita and Wade Graham during NSW State of Origin training. Picture: Brett Costello Source: News Corp Australia

“I’d like to think I’m an option there,” Graham said.

“There’s obviously a lot of football to be played after this Origin series at the back end of the year but the success we had last year ... you probably think if we do well again this year as a team, you’d like to see a bit more representation as a reward over the two-year period.

“But that’s out of our control, we’ve just got to keep going and keep trying.

“We want to have success at Cronulla regardless of any representation but we’d like to think that if we did go well again that we’d have a few more boys in there.”

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Meninga has made it clear on a number of occasions that he takes more out of performances on the biggest stages than he does from the weekly grind of club football, putting Origin and finals at the forefront of his selection plans.

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Injuries will almost certainly rule out Kangaroos mainstays Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and Matt Scott, while fellow Queenslanders Sam Thaiday, Michael Morgan and Justin O’Neill are under pressure to hold their spots.

There couldn’t be a more perfect time for NSW’s new kids on the block to shape the Kangaroos side of the future, and with Meninga part of the selection panel that decides the man of the match on Wednesday night, no one will be watching closer.

NSW's Wade Graham during the NSW team photo. Picture: Brett Costello Source: News Corp Australia

“Origin is very important and we’re approaching a bit of a change of the guard,” Meninga recently told The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield.

“Younger legs are coming through and performing on the big stage (Origin) is everything.

“With guys like John (Thurston) retiring and we’re not sure where Cooper (Cronk) is at, we’re looking at all the positions for the future.”

Graham, Bird, James Tedesco, Mitchell Pearce and Josh Jackson are the Blues yet to play a Test who will be pushing hardest to get in the frame for selection.

Their claims will be offset by the new generation of Maroons, with Cameron Munster, Dane Gagai, Dylan Napa, Josh McGuire and Coen Hess all eager to leave their mark.

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