The reason we couldn't is partly because of the massive vortex- our would be 50-50 low that was displaced SW of that position. The other part was the flow between the ridge out west and the TPV contributing to a lot of NS shortwaves feeding into the vortex. Even though it's weak, in a Nina the Polar jet tends to be busier and the STJ less prominent, so that's another contributing factor.
As for blocking going forward, the ens runs were depicting a Scandi ridge retrograding into the NAO space, but have backed off on recent cycles. There are still hints, so we shall see on that possibility.