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Billy Slater has no worries about throwing his rookies into the Origin arena, with the new Queensland coach backing his new blood to succeed despite their relative lack of experience.
The Maroons squad, announced this morning, includes four debutants in the starting 17 and another two in the extended bench, with Broncos stars Selwyn Cobbo and Pat Carrigan set for debuts, along with four North Queensland Cowboys in Jeremiah Nanai, Reuben Cotter, Tom Dearden and Murray Taulagi.
“They picked themselves,” said Slater. “They decide whether they are performing well enough to play for Queensland.
“We’re fortunate enough to have a group of Queenslanders that deserve to play for Queensland this year, and we’ve picked a 22-man squad that I’d be comfortable with any of them playing next Wednesday night.”
“That’s one position that we have been a bit skinny in the past, in the centres and wings. We’ve gone with Xavier Coates and Selwyn Cobbo, we feel that their performances have earned them a chance in game one so that’s where we went.
“Murray has made the extended squad and is in the 22, which is a great reward for his development, and I suppose, a reward for the Cowboys and the way that they’re going.
“Those individuals from the Cowboys that have made the squad have certainly contributed, and Murray is one of them.
“Corey Oates is another guy that I’ve been really impressed with this year, and if we had to throw him a jersey, we’d have full belief that he could do a job for us.”
Carrigan is the most experienced of those named in the starting 17 with 54 NRL appearances. Cotter has 31, Cobbo less than a season’s worth on 19 and Nanai just 16 games in top grade. Indeed, Nanai only made his debut in round 22 last year.
“He grew up in Cairns, only an hour away from where I grew up,” he said. “He’s a good young man and his performances have earned him his jersey.
“Not just chasing kicks and scoring tries, he’s been doing a lot of work for his team. He made 51 tackles at the weekend in a tough environment down at Penrith. He showed some toughness and he’s a guy that I’m really looking forward to getting out on the field.”
Queensland also named Kalyn Ponga at fullback, with the Newcastle star retaining his place ahead of Reece Walsh of the New Zealand Warriors.
“We expect Kalyn to be at his best and it’s part of our job to help him outlay that best football,” said Slater, himself a former Maroons fullback.
“We know what Kalyn is capable of, he’s a tough lad and football and Queensland are important to him. I’m comfortable with Kalyn wearing the number 1.
“I don’t think I’ve been concerned about anyone. The players actions will determine if they want to be playing for Queensland. Although Kalyn’s team hasn’t been playing overly well, Kalyn’s effort has never been questioned.
“If the effort goes, you start asking questions, but I haven’t seen any efforts that would deter me from picking him.”
The big out was Titans back-rower David Fifita, though it was revealed by his club that he has torn an MCL ligament and will miss the next month anyway.
“I haven’t yet but I will. I’ll call some guys that have been in and around the team because there’s some disappointment there. I’ve been there, I know what it’s like. you can only pick 17 players to play for Queensland, and there’s a lot more than 17 that could do a really good job for Queensland at the moment.
There’s disappointed players out there but the show goes on and there’s going to be opportunities in the future.”