Hill set for State of Origin
return

Melbourne Storm five-eighth Scott Hill is one step closer to making a successful return to State of Origin football after he was named in the New South Wales Origin squad today.

Hill, who hasn?t represented NSW since 2002 and played just eight NRL games last year after battling to overcome ongoing shoulder injury, was named in a 30-man squad ahead of the Origin opener on 26 May at Telsra Stadium.

The 27-year-old has been in excellent form for the Storm this year and claimed man-of-the-match honours in Country?s narrow four-point win over City at Gosford last Friday night.

?It?s taken me a couple of games to get going this year but I?ve been happy with how I?ve been going over the past few weeks,? Hill said.

?My form lately has been a bit better than what it was at the start of the year because it was always going to be a hard to just step back into some good form, which I was expected to do.

?The good thing about this year is that I have played eight games in a row without getting injured and I was also able to back up from Friday night for the Storm.

?Apart from not getting the win on Saturday night against the Sharks it was good to know I could get through it without injury.?

Friday night?s match served as the perfect reminder that Hill is back on track after the disappointment of last season, but the former Test lock knows he needs to start winning at club level in order to stay in contention for the Blues? No.6 jersey.

?I was obviously happy with the match on Friday night and the final result, I guess it put my name back up on the selector?s table again,? Hill said.

?The Storm hasn?t won a great deal of games so far this year but the team has been going well and I suppose Friday night just reinforced that I was travelling OK.

?We need to keep it going again this weekend and it?s something we?ve got to concentrate on as a club, we definitely need to get the two points this Sunday against Parramatta.

?Obviously the selectors pick players from winning teams, they don?t like to pick players that are in losing teams.?

One player that wasn?t considered for NSW selection was Storm centre Matt King who is set to miss between six and eight weeks after tearing the medial ligament in his elbow in last Friday night?s match.

King will undergo surgery on Wednesday evening to repair his troublesome elbow and will also have arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in a bid to strengthen the joint.

?I?ll be having a full repair on my elbow as well as an arthroscope on my shoulder seeing as I?m going to be out for a few weeks anyway,? King explained.

?I?m trying to keep a positive frame of mind, six weeks isn?t that long in the scheme of the season so hopefully I?m back even fresher sooner rather than later.

?I see it as just a hiccup, I?ve been pretty happy with how I?ve been going this year and it?s just another challenge.?

STORM TRAINING THIS WEEK: Tuesday: 9am & 1pm ? Olympic Park Thursday: 9am & 3.30pm ? Olympic Park Saturday: 9.30am ? Olympic Park