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NSW five-eighth Jarome Luai is confident he can strike up a partnership with Nicho Hynes if given a reprieve by Brad Fittler as the Blues attempt to save the State of Origin series without Nathan Cleary.

Fittler's worst fears were confirmed on Monday when scans revealed Cleary had suffered a left hamstring tear in the Panthers' win over St George Illawarra.

Cleary is set to miss "up to six weeks", ruling him out of Game II in Brisbane on June 21 and leaving him at long odds to feature in Sydney's series-closer on July 12.

There was welcome news on the injury front for Fittler when South Sydney skipper Cameron Murray was cleared of a serious groin issue, with the lock to be monitored by the Rabbitohs.

But the focus before Fittler names his squad next Monday will be on who he chooses as Cleary's replacement for the must-win trip to Suncorp Stadium.

NSW have never saved a series in Brisbane and they head there without Cleary's precise kicking game.

Luai endorsed Cronulla playmaker Hynes to fill the void.

Hynes is in sparkling form for his club, won last year's Dally M Medal and made his debut as bench utility in Adelaide last week.

"We've got a guy like Nicho there with a Dally M, he's been in camp for the last two State of Origin series and he's ready for it," Luai said.

"That's what footy's about, getting an opportunity and then stepping up on the day.

"He's definitely capable of that and I'll back him.

"He has (trained) at seven and at six. He's a guy who has been learning the role of every position that he needed to.

"He's been in there, he's watched it all, this is his opportunity and he's ready for it."

Aside from throwing Hynes straight into his starting side, Fittler could also consider bringing Parramatta's Mitchell Moses or Brisbane's Adam Reynolds into the fold.

Broncos halfback Reynolds hasn't played Origin since 2016 but his return could pave the way for him to rekindle the partnership he once enjoyed with Cody Walker at the Rabbitohs.

Fittler has banked on the Cleary-Luai combination over the past two series, but Luai believes he has done enough to retain his spot even without his fellow Panthers playmaker.

"I'm confident in myself and I thought I did my job last game," Luai said.

"Rugby league's a weird game, you just always need to be ready and when you're called upon you need to do a good job.

"I'll be ready if he calls upon me again."

© AAP 2023

Kathleen Folbigg has been granted an unconditional pardon and released from jail after spending 20 years behind bars for the deaths of her four children.

NSW Attorney General Michael Daley said on Monday he had received an advance copy of a summary of an inquiry by former NSW chief justice Thomas Bathurst into Folbigg's convictions, which found there was reasonable doubt about her guilt.

Although the report won't be published in its entirety for weeks, Mr Daley said he agreed with Mr Bathurst's findings that he is "firmly of the view that there is reasonable doubt as to Ms Folbigg's guilt".

Mr Bathurst found he was "unable to accept ... the proposition that Ms Folbigg was anything but a caring mother for her children".

Mr Daley said he met with Governor Margaret Beazley on Monday morning and she accepted his recommendation she should "exercise the royal prerogative of mercy and grant Ms Folbigg an unconditional pardon".

"Justice can ultimately be done even it takes a long time", he said.

Greens MP and supporter Sue Higginson told reporters Folbigg had been freed from the Clarence Correctional Centre in Grafton.

"She's walking, she's outside, she's in the sunshine... justice has been done," she said.

"This is our Lindy Chamberlain case," Ms Higginson said indicating that Folbigg will be pursuing compensation for the "twenty years of her life that has been lost".

"Not one single day passed where Kathleen Folbigg didn't maintain her innocence," Ms Higginson said.

"There was never any actual forensic or pathological evidence to say that the children were smothered, or that she committed those crimes that she was convicted of."

Folbigg is expected to live with lifelong friend and fierce advocate Tracy Chapman at her property on the NSW north coast.

"Tracy has a bed made for her and that's where she'll be sleeping tonight," Ms Higginson said.

After a seven week trial in 2003 a jury found Folbigg guilty of killing her four babies - Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura - between 1989 and 1999.

The pardon does not mean Folbigg's convictions will automatically be quashed.

Ms Higginson said she believed the convictions would be quashed in the Court of Criminal Appeal and pointed towards an admission from the director of public prosecution about reasonable doubt.

"That means that most likely there will be no objector in terms of her application to have her convictions quashed in the criminal court of appeal," Ms Higginson said.

"The sooner that his (Thomas Bathurst's) findings are on paper, the sooner that application is before the Court of Criminal appeal, the sooner the next step of justice for Kathleen Folbigg can commence."

An inquiry into Folbigg's convictions in April heard credible evidence her four children may have died of natural causes.

Rare genetic variants identified in Folbigg and her daughters triggered the second inquiry into her conviction not long after a 2019 examination.

Ms Higginson indicated Ms Folbigg would be seeking compensation or an "ex gratia payment of some sort".

"Whatever that sum looks like may be the biggest sum that we can imagine," she said.

© AAP 2023

Kathleen Folbigg has been pardoned and released from jail after spending 20 years behind bars for the deaths of her four children.

NSW Attorney General Michael Daley said on Monday he had received an advance copy of a summary of an inquiry by Thomas Bathurst into Folbigg's convictions which found there was reasonable doubt about her guilt.

There is a reasonable possibility that three of the children died of natural causes,' it said.

Mr Bathurst was "unable to accept... the proposition that Ms Folbigg was anything but a caring mother for her children".

Mr Daley recommended to Governor Margaret Beazley that Folbigg be pardoned and she had accepted the recommendation.

"She has now been pardoned," Mr Daley said.

"Justice can ultimately be done even it takes a long time", he said.

Greens MP and supporter Sue Higginson told reporters Folbigg had been freed from the Clarence Correctional Centre in Grafton.

"She's walking, she's outside, she's in the sunshine... justice has been done," she said.

"This is our Lindy Chamberlain case here in Australia," Ms Higginson said indicating that Folbigg will be pursuing compensation for the "twenty years of her life that has been lost".

Folbigg is expected to spend the night with lifelong friend and advocate Tracey Chapman.

After a seven week trial in 2003 a jury found Folbigg guilty of killing her four babies - Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura - between 1989 and 1999.

The pardon does not mean Folbigg's convictions will automatically be quashed.

Folbigg has always maintained her innocence.

An inquiry into her convictions in April heard credible evidence the four children may have died of natural causes.

Rare genetic variants identified in Folbigg and her daughters triggered the second inquiry into her conviction not long after a 2019 examination.

© AAP 2023