Maguire on Monday said he went with a gut decision in picking Dylan Edwards ahead of Tedesco for the Origin series opener, praising the Penrith fullback’s work ethic and club success.

The decision has made Tedesco the first Kangaroos captain in history to be dropped from his Origin side, after 22 straight matches for NSW.

Maguire called Tedesco to deliver the news on Sunday, but said he did not discuss with the 31-year-old whether he had a desire to win back the NSW jersey.

“We didn’t get into those details, he’s a champion and he’s playing some good footy, so it was a big decision,” Maguire said.

“It was tough, but I understand why James is the person he is, he was excellent actually.

“I have the utmost respect for Teddy, he’s done everything in the game and I’ll hold what he said to me.

“But I can understand why he’s going to go down as one of the champions of the game. He’s still got plenty of footy in front of him too.”

Maguire said he had been won over by Edwards’ work rate, with one play against Cronulla on Saturday night sealing the deal for the Blues coach.

With Penrith already leading 28-0, Edwards sprinted from one side of the field to the other to deny Daniel Atkinson a 40-20 then beat a defender on his kick return.

The Panthers No.1 then made another 20-metre run later in the set to help Penrith earn a line dropout, before they scored a minute later in the same attacking raid.

“That solidified my decision that this is where we’re going,” Maguire said.

“He’s a player who’s been playing at the highest level, he’s played in four grand finals, we all know his stats and he’s won three.

“He’s one of the most consistent players I’ve seen for a long, long time. I just felt from my gut it was the right time to give Dylan the opportunity to play.

“They’re always tough (decisions), I have huge respect for all the players.

“But my job is about making decisions for what I believe is going to take the team to success.”