THE State of Origin hype is building for Cowboys forward Coen Hess, but Hess is adamant that a Origin debut is still not at the top of his priorities.

Queensland Origin skipper Cameron Smith is the latest to endorse Hess for Origin, saying on Monday that Hess had “pretty much” forced his way into contention for this year’s series.

Queensland coach Kevin Walters has also revealed his plans to blood the 114kg wrecking ball, although Cowboys coach Paul Green has appealed to Maroons powerbrokers to hold off playing Hess for another year.

Hess himself can’t quite believe he has already entered the Origin mix at 20 years of age.

It has been less than two years since Hess was employed on the front desk at Brothers Leagues Club while starring in the Cowboys under-20s team.

But playing Origin this year or waiting another 12 months is neither here nor there for Hess, who isn’t buying into the hype.

“I don’t look into the media at all,” Hess said.

“I’m just going to try and play consistent footy for the Cowboys and that’s my number one focus at the moment

“Obviously it’s good to get praise, but in saying that I have to keep level headed as well.

Hess has the build to flourish in Origin, but even that does not guarantee success in rugby league’s toughest arena.

Despite knocking down every on-field challenge he’s ever faced Hess is uncertain how we would handle Origin.

“I’m not too sure to be honest, obviously I’ve never been out there,” Hess said.

“I grew up watching it ever since I can remember, but I wouldn’t have a clue to be honest.

“If you went out there without confidence it would make things harder on yourself, even playing out there (1300SMILES Stadium) I have to be confident in myself.

“We’ve got a lot of Origin experience around the club which is good, which shows what we’re doing here is working.

“So there are a lot of guys here with Origin experience which is good to know.”



Hess has four games to keep pressing his Origin case and goes into Saturday’s home clash against the Knights having run 116m during his 80-minute effort against the Dragons last weekend.

He also sits inside the NRL’s top six tryscorers after seven rounds, having scored six.

“It’s not something I think about going into games, I’m just doing my job out there and if I’m lucky enough to crash over so be it,” Hess said.

“I’ll take every one I can.”

But Hess is not expecting to get a free run at adding to his tally during Saturday’s ANZAC weekend showdown against Newcastle, who like the Cowboys have been ravaged by injury.

Former Cowboys hooker Rory Kostjasyn may be forced into retirement after enduring difficulties in his recovery from a fractured larynx, and backrower Jamie Buhrer recently broke his foot.

“I’ve still got room for improvement and last week I think defensively I was a bit off, which led to a few tries down our edge,” Hess said.

“That’s something we focused on (at training) this morning ... come Saturday we’ll be looking to make amends to what happened last week.”