CHICAGO -- Kyle Hendricks might not necessarily be the second coming of Greg Maddux, but the crafty Chicago Cubs right-hander compares quite favorably with the Hall of Famer, according to San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy.Hes a Maddux-type pitcher, hes cerebral, great stuff, great command and moves the ball around well, Bochy said Friday as the Giants and Cubs prepared to open their National League Division Series at Wrigley Field.Hendricks (16-8 with a 2.13 ERA during the regular season) takes the mound for the Cubs in Saturdays Game 2 against Giants right-hander and ex-Cub Jeff Samardzija (12-11, 3.81). The Cubs lead the series after a 1-0 victory in the opener.(Hendricks is) a true pitcher. You look at other guys who dont have that velocity and theyre smart pitchers, Bochy said. He changes speeds, hes tough. ... Hes got a great changeup, a great motion on it, its hard to read the pitch.Hendricks was the first Cubs pitcher to lead the majors in ERA since Bill Lee (2.66 ERA) in 1938. He went 9-2 with a 1.32 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) at Wrigley Field. It was also the lowest home ERA for any pitcher in baseball.He has a 4.32 ERA in three career starts against the Giants.Hendricks said he appreciated Bochys compliment.Ive heard those comparisons a few times. Its pretty humbling just to be mentioned in the same sentence with (Maddox), he said. I didnt really dissect too much from Gregs game pitching-wise, but mentally I think the approach he took of having simple thoughts ... and just making effective pitches, I really learned a lot from that.Now in his third season, Hendricks made 31 appearances and 30 starts in 2016, working 190 innings and striking out 170 batters while walking 44. He went 7-1 with three no-decisions in the seasons final two months.Samardzija returns to a park he knows very well as a Cubs player for nearly seven seasons. He went 31-42 with a 3.97 ERA during that span.Samardzija was traded to the Oakland As in 2015, pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 2015 and joined the Giants as a free agent this season.Nicknamed The Shark, Samardzija was 3-4 with four no-decisions in the last two months of the season.He had no decision in a Sept. 1 outing against the Cubs -- his only other start at Wrigley Field as a visiting pitcher -- allowing three runs and four hits in a five-inning outing as the Giants lost 5-4.Samardzija got the Game 2 call that could have also easily gone to Matt Moore.Im going to take it as (Bochy) has confidence in me and Im not going to let him down, Samardzija said.Whats the secret to pitching at Wrigley Field?The flags, he said. Its really the only thing that matters. ... 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Laurie Daley will have one final message for NSW ahead of State of Origin III as the Blues desperately attempt to avoid a clean sweep: the future starts now.With the Blues seeking to recover from another Queensland series victory, their 10th in 11 years, Daley will blood his ninth and 10th rookie for the past two seasons in bench back-rower Wade Graham and fullback James Tedesco.The Blues are determined to send retiring skipper Paul Gallen out a winner at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday but they will do so with one eye firmly on the future.Long-serving rake Robbie Farah could also be playing his final Origin game, veteran centre Michael Jennings might be in the same boat and Greg Bird will unlikely play for the Blues again after being overlooked for game three.Canterbury centre Josh Morris, who was a key figure in the Blues drought-breaking series win in 2014, is another who could be passed over in 2017.Daley is contracted with the NSWRL until the end of the 20017 series and in the final three years of his tenure he will have overseen one of the most dramatic squad overhauls in Blues history.ddddddddddddGame two debutants Tyson Frizell and Jack Bird showed they have the potential to be key parts of Blues sides well into the future.But Daley knows a win in game three is vital to start off on the right foot in 2017.We have gradually started to have a lot of change in our side since 2014, Daley said.And again last year we stated to make some huge changes and at the end of this series there will be a couple more that may or may not go on.For us it is about going out there and playing some really good football. We havent played anywhere near out potential and we have been close (on the scoreboard) - that is what excites me.If we do win it will give us some optimism moving into next year. ' ' '