NSW State of Origin chairman of selectors Bob McCarthy has left the door open for Jamie Lyon to make a return to the Blues if the Manly centre's form warrants it.

Lyon has failed in an application to be exempt from representative football because he did not satisfy the criteria of 10 years playing in the NRL.

The ruling means the 27-year-old would be stood down for Manly games if he was selected for NSW but withdrew for reasons other than injury.

Lyon was not selected for last year's series after indicating he preferred life outside the Origin spotlight.

Coach Craig Bellamy said at the time he was not interested in picking players who were not totally committed to the cause.

The same could occur this year, but McCarthy said the past would not count against Lyon.

The former Test star is currently sidelined with a knee injury but has been named by coach Des Hasler to play in Sunday's home game against Wests Tigers.

"He's got to get on the field before we even start looking at him," McCarthy told AAP.

"If he plays and his form's there we'll see what happens.

"We're not going to pick him if he's got no form, we're not going to pick him for what he did two years ago."

The Blues could be in need of Lyon's services in 2009 after the defection of superstar centre Mark Gasnier to French rugby union.

"There's a big hole there with Gasnier out of the side," McCarthy said.

Australian Rugby League chief executive Geoff Carr confirmed on Wednesday that Lyon's bid for an exemption had failed.

"We've now got strict guidelines," he told AAP.

"We had some issues a number of years ago where a number of people applied. Those applications don't happen that often now.

"When they come they need to be considered consistently.

"There are things like the age of the player, the rep history, the player's injury history, whether he's a 10-year NRL player.

"There's a whole lot of boxes you have to tick and Jamie just missed out on the 10-year player in the NRL because some of his footy was played actually overseas (in the English Super League)."

Manly chief executive Grant Mayer said he would discuss the ruling with Lyon in the next week.

"There's only two options now open to Jamie, one is to play representative football or, two, to be stood down for Manly," Mayer told AAP.

"Obviously there's plenty of time between now and the first selections so we'll discuss with Jamie over the coming days or weeks.

"I don't think it's a priority before this weekend's game."

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