Ok, I know. I know. There are still nearly two months and 48 games before State of Origin teams are to be selected, but let’s get in nice and early.
Everyone loves to speculate a little, so after five rounds, let’s help Kevin Walters with his selections for Origin Game 1 on May 31st at Suncorp Stadium.
Queensland pick themselves right? You always hear that. Well, not quite.
This year they have been hard hit by injuries and a retirement with three certain selections in Matt Scott, Corey Parker and Greg Inglis unavailable. These three have played 71 Origins and scored 19 tries between them, with scoring 18 of them, the most by any player.
But Billy is back. Despite the feeling that Billy Slater might say no to Origin this year and repay the faith (and resources) that the Melbourne Storm have poured into him for little on-field return over the last two years, the greatest fullback to have ever played the game wants to get back in that Maroons jersey.
Understandably Walters wants to pick him. Understandably, Slater wants to play. A player as competitive as him couldn’t stand to be on the sidelines.
I think Queensland are stronger with Slater in for Darius Boyd at fullback.
But does Slater’s return compensate for the loss of Inglis? No.
It means the Maroons are a little stronger in the left wing position because Boyd will be moved there to accommodate Slater, but they are still their left-centre down.
Justin O’Neill and Dane Gagai will make up the Maroons right side, and I think Coach Walters will probably go for Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk at five eighth and half respectively. Probably.
Left-centre, marking up on Josh Dugan. Where can Walters look for this key position? Will Chambers plays right centre for Melbourne but has experience at Origin level.
Tautau Moga has been solid for Brisbane without finding the sort of form that he needs to force Chambers out. Kyle Feldt on the wing for Gagai to left centre? Seems like too many changes for no significant uplift.
Cameron Munster has impressed as a fullback, has the skill to play five eighth and is as fit as anyone in the league. And one of the most competitive. His broken jaw will see him return roughly Round 9 – so will have three full games to be right for Origin I. He will have 50 games of NRL under his belt by then. Yep, lets pick him.
Scott was a mainstay for Queensland over the 2016 series. And the other prop selection was a little problematic with Nate Myles and Josh McGuire filling the void. That means it’s even more problematic this year in Scott’s absence.
Myles is back to the bench with Manly and there are question marks over his form but his phenomenal 31 games experience is going to be hard to cover, so he will get a start on my bench.
Dylan Napa was a very naughty boy in the 2016 emerging Maroons camp and missed selection last year. Queensland will be hoping he is a choirboy in the lead up to May 31.
Napa in front row with McGuire. Sam Thaiday and Matt Gillet will round out the back row, and I just have to start with Josh Papalii at lock. He doesn’t fill this role at his club but I think he can be even more explosive knowing he will get a rest at some point and be back for a second stint.
Myles on the bench with… with… Anthony Milford? Tough call on Michael Morgan but can you imagine, as a tiring NSW forward, the last bloke you would want to see come on fresh is old twinkle toes Milford.
With Papalii in the starting side you can carry extra middle forwards and play Papalii on an edge if there is an injury.
The candidates for bench positions in previous years are Aidan Guerra, Jacob Lillyman, Gavin Cooper, Felise Kaufusi and Ethan Lowe.
But the two players I would go with are Coen Hess and Dave Taylor. Hess is a supreme footballer, strong physically and gauging by how he played in that Cowboys vs Broncos semi final last year, not overawed by big occasions. A must, and a must pick for Queensland for the next decade.
Taylor is left field, hasn’t played Origin since 2014, and has had a huge number of “distractions” over the last two seasons. But again I come back to the point – who would Laurie Daley and the Blues prefer to play against – Taylor or Lillyman? I know my answer.
Cameron Smith will play hooker. And he will captain the side.
That sentence is so easy to write, yet incredibly powerful for Queensland and debilitating for NSW. Whatever you think of the Australia, Queensland and Melbourne captain, his statistical record is ridiculous. Seriously, take a look at it.
Smith will turn 34 on the Sunday before Game 2. And I still don’t see any early signs of ageing in his play.
In fact, the numbers that he (and Cronk) produced after Origin for Melbourne last year were better than his post Origin figures for many seasons. That says a lot about the Storm system, but it also says even more about the man.
So just when you (maybe it was just me) thought that Queensland were showing signs they were going to have this golden period come to an end, they can come up with a 17 like this – and make everyone in NSW just that little more uncomfortable come winter.
1 Billy Slater
2 Darius Boyd
3 Cameron Munster
4 Justin O’Neill
5 Dane Gagai
6 Johnathan Thurston
7 Cooper Cronk
8 Josh McGuire
9 Cameron Smith ©
10 Dylan Napa
11 Matt Gillet
12 Sam Thaiday
13 Josh Papalii
14 Anthony Milford
15 Nate Myles
16 Coen Hess
17 Dave Taylor
Maroon_Intelligence
Guest
QLD Need Speed & "Quick Play The Balls" Around The Ruck, That Which Can Only Be Accomplished By Bringing In A New Brigade Of "MAROONS"(Whom By Which Have Proven More Than Capable At The NRL Level), But Equally As Ready To Step Up & Into The Origin Arena!!!! Guys Like Korbin Sims, Jarrod Wallace & Coen Hess Deserve Their Opportunities, Not Only For This Series, But For The Foreseeable Long-Term Aswell!!!! So As An Hypothetical Scenario, This Would Be The MAROONS Team As Follows..... 1.) Billy Slater - Melbourne Storm. 2.) Valentine Holmes - Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. 3.) Dane Gagai - Newcastle Knights. 4.) Will Chambers - Melbourne Storm. 5.) Corey Oates - Brisbane Broncos. 6.) Johnathan Thurston - North Queensland Cowboys. 7.) Cooper Cronk - Melbourne Storm. 8.) Korbin Sims - Brisbane Broncos. 9.) Cameron Smith - Melbourne Storm. 10.) Jarrod Wallace - Gold Coast Titans. 11.) Coen Hess - North Queensland Cowboys. 12.) Matt Gillett - Brisbane Broncos. 13.) Michael Morgan - North Queensland Cowboys. Interchange Bench: 14.) Josh MvGuire - Brisbane Broncos. 15.) Dylan Napa - Sydney City Roosters. 16.) Josh Papalii - Canberra Raiders. 17.) Anthony Milford - Brisbane Broncos. 18th Man: Andrew McCullough - Brisbane Broncos. 19th Man: Cameron Munster - Melbourne Storm. Omissions: *Darius Boyd - Brisbane Broncos. *Justin O'Neil - North Queensland Cowboys. *Nate Myles - Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. *Sam Thaiday - Brisbane Broncos. *Jacob Lillyman - New Zealand Warriors. Editors Notes: *Darius Boyds Omission Would Only Be Due To "His Positional Play" Being Catered More To A "Slower" "Grinding" Style Of Football, Whereas Billy Slater's Is Far Better Suited To The "Uptempo" Style Of Play Which Worked Favourably For The Blues In Game One. Slaters "Positional Play" Would Be The Perfect Counter "Response" To The Blues & In Saying So, Could Prove To Be "The Match-Winning Difference" Going Into & Out Of Game Two!!!! "NOTABLE, BUT PIVOTAL OMISSIONS": *Justin O'Neils Omission Is Only Attributed To His "Defensive Reads" & Less Than Potent "Attacking Raids" In Game One & That Quite Simply Put - Dane Gagai's Robust Performance On Both Ends In The Said, Would Be(And Have Been)Far More Beneficial For The MAROONS. *Nate Myles, *Sam Thaiday & *Jacob Lillyman: All Great Contributors To The Wonderful Successes The MAROONS Have Had Over The Preceding Decade, But Such Is Life, All Have "Slowed Down" Significantly As Was Evidenced In Game One Of The Series!!!! "THE BENCHMARK": Reviewing Game One & Going Into Game Two Of The Series, The MAROONS Need An "INJECTION" Of Both "ZIP", "PUNCH" & 'AGGRESSION" On Standby(Particularly, After "The Opening Exchanges" & Especially When The Game Starts To "Slow Down"(Hence, McGuire, Napa, Papalii & Milford)!!!! "POSITIONAL POWERPLAYS": Switching Michael Morgan To Lock(Who Can Not Only Attack, But Defend) Also Adds "Creative Variety" In & Around The Edges For QUEENSLAND!!!! And With The Increase Of Speed, Not To Mention The "Quick Play The Balls" That Sims, Wallace, Hess & Gillett Will Provide(Throw In Morgans Running Game) & You Have A Recipe For Points, But A Combative Unit That'll Keep The Blues Guessing All Game!!!!! In Addition, Bringing In The Now Incumbent Australian Winger In Valentine Holmes Is A "No Brainer", His Evasive Skills, Not To Mention Speed, Would Not Only Suit The "Uptempo" Style QLD Would Now Play, But Also Trouble The Blues At Every Turn(Consider The Thought Of Him Partnering With Dane Gagai & There's Another Reason To Count The Positives!!!!!!!)
thomas c
Guest
at least some recent weeks, dave taylor and nate myles haven't even been playing. And I think they might hold Josh Papalii back so they have something to counter when NSW brings on impact players from the bench. The wisdom of michael morgan is that he can fill in anywhere in the halves or backs. Injury cover. I think it makes sense of have one old head on the bench - maybe thaiday or lillyman. Someone who's a known entity and will be calm about the occasion for any of the new boys. Jarrod Wallace's workload and size has to put him on the radar. Thaiday, Lillyman and Myles are 32-33. good players and servants of the state, but at some point, you start to look to see who is coming along and at an age to establish themselves as the next generation of long term options. Playing alongside thurston, cronk and smith might help them grow into origin players.
Ekka
Guest
The aged and myopic Queensland selectors will probably pick Slater, Smith and Cronk, the most disloyal pretend Queenslanders of all time. They will also probably pick the far overrated ho-hum Morgan, but hopefully the far more brilliant Milford and the mercurial Corey Oates will be there somewhere. You do wonder about the writers of these articles, and I see that Mr Smith is from NSW, so what would he know or care about Queenslanders anyway? What about Andrew McCullough, Mr Smith? Oh you're still in the misty purple haze of the other Smith are you? And Ben Hunt? Both have been playing their hearts out for Queensland in the form of the original Queensland team, the Broncos, for a few hundred games each while Cameron Smith and Cronk and Slater have played for the money only for a decade, having all deserted their home state. Oh, they've been prepared to call themselves Queenslanders three times a year have they? How big of them. Do such mercenaries who play against their state twenty-something times a year deserve to be preferred over blokes who have remained loyal? As a genuine Queenslander, a real Queenslander, I say give Ben Hunt, Andrew McCullough, and Darius Boyd the Queensland jerseys they deserve, and the former Queenslanders but now Victorians Smith, Cronk and Slater the push. Hopefully no more young Queenslanders will fall in the thrall of the poorly-spoken mexican coach.
Clarence Anum
Guest
1. Billy Slater 2. Darius Boyd 3. Will Chambers 4. Dane Gagai 5. Valentine Holmes 6. Jonathan Thurston 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Korbin Sims 9. Cameron Smith 10. Dylan Napa 11. Josh Papali 12. Matt Gillette 13. Josh McGuire. 14. Michael Morgan 15. Ferlise Kaufisi 16. Coen Hess 17. Sam Thaiday 18. Jason Bukuya
Bucks
Guest
1.Slater 2.Boyd 3.O'Neill 4.Gagai 5.Holmes 6.Thurston 7.Cronk 8.Napa 9.Smith (c) 10.Myles 11.Papalli 12.Gillett 13.Guerra 14.Thaiday 15.McGuire 16.Hess 17.McCullough (doesn't have to play hooker - will tackle all day) 18.Morgan/Milford/Korbin
matt
Guest
slater / boyd oates / feldt oneil / chambers gagai / leutele boyd / holmes Thurston / milford cronk / DCE / ash taylor napa / myles smith / mculloch thaiday / sims gillet / cooper papali / lowe Maguire / kaufusi morgon / munster hess / Wallace / lillyman Guerra / bolton
Joel
Guest
01. Slater (27) 02. Boyd (26) 03. Chambers (4) 04. O'Neil (3) 05. Gagai (4) 06. Thurston (36) 07. Cronk (19) 08. Napa (0) 09. Smith (39) 10. Myles (31) 11. Papalii (6) 12. Thaiday (28) 13. Gillett (15) 14. Morgan (5) / Cherry Evans (6) 15. Hess (0) / Cooper (1) / Lowe (1) 16. Guerra (9) 17. McGuire (5) Slater and Boyd, need them both in the side with all that experience and quality, though Slater can't play wing. Saying that, could this work? 1. Slater (27) 2. Oats (3) 3. Chambers (4) 4. Boyd (26) 5. Gagai (4) Napa runs on with Myles, what an inspiration to show his abilities and education for Napa to be handed the guard from a 31+ game origin legend and an honor to lift and show the way Nate Myles. Thaiday isn't done yet with 28 games if he gets 2 games out of the 3 this year he goes into the 30 games + hall of fame for QLD and he deserves it and he will play like it, a huge occasion for the veteran to lift. The O'Neil, Gagai combination getting 4 tries last series. Gagai has scored 5 origin tries in 4 games Morgan to keep his spot, his size, versatility and cover so suited for the utility role. Cherry Evans has impressed so far in 2017 though I think he gets in Thurstons way too much when used as a utility and is more suited as a starting half which I think on his recent form has put his hand up for next in line. Hess, Cooper or Lowe, .... I can't split em, none of them will let the team down. The question is, are they going to pick up Maloneys short forward passes?
Albo
Guest
Yep ! Pretty much with you Baz ! But I have already ruled Slater out, based on what I saw on Saturday night with that shoulder. It is nowhere near right and another big hit around there will finish him off before State of Origin time. Can no longer include Myles. Lillyman takes that spot for mine. Cooper & Gillett lock down left & right side edges in both attack & defensive strategies. The big 3 run the show as usual. All very simple really. My QLD team would be: 1 Boyd 2 Oates 3 Chambers 4 O’Neill 5 Gagai 6 JT 7 Cronk 8 Lillyman 9 Smith 10 Napa 11 Cooper 12 Gillett 13 Papalli 14 Morgan 15 Thaiday 16 McQuire 17 Hess
Nat
Roar Guru
Yeah, 3 reasons. 1, Maximum Impact. Remember "Walker's On"? ... x10 2, Can cover any spot from FB to Lock with minimum disruption. 3, He cannot unseat Boyd atm. Defensively and in attack he is superior to Slater right now. Still its good to debate on which Int player QLD can bring off the bench!
MB
Guest
Holmes will be in the team over Munster and Oates. 1-5 will come from: Slater, Boyd, Chambers, O'Neill, Gagai, Holmes (that's six players). Dave Taylor will not be picked. Morgan will be the bench utility The starting pack is bang on. Re: Hess ... a bit early for him IMO. He's only played 14 NRL games. He'll get there, but right now others deserve the spot ahead of him - some edge players (Cooper), some middle players (K.Sims, Wallace, Kaufusi), and some who can play effectively in either role (Lowe, Bukuya)
Mad Max
Guest
That is a cracker team. Would love to see oates on the bench.
Mad Max
Guest
How hsant Corey oates been mentioned ... he would be awesome as a utility. In fact pick 2 utility players ... he's the verities forward back and Morgan the utility forward. You're welcome.
Mike Dugg
Guest
Slater should just focus on the storm and gracefully retire from rep footy. Boyd is the man for fullback now. Thaiday and Myles are past it. I know loyalty is important but they have to make a move and bring more youth onboard. If I was Smith I'd think of this being my last or second last year of origin at most. Better to retire on top than go a year too long. Slater Gagai Chambers Oneill Holmes Thurston Cronk McGuire Smith Napa Cooper Papali Gillette Morgan Hess Lowe Guerra
Joe
Roar Rookie
Chambers will be first picked in the centers even before O'Neil. Munster and Milford won't make the team. Kaufusi is a strong chance for the bench. The team looks a lot weaker than previous years and the Blues look really strong this year. I think the Blues will be a big chance of winning Origin this year.
Adsa
Guest
That was the team I thought of Baz, with only one change Holmes on the wing for Slater.
Brad
Guest
Milford over morgan get wtf??? Morgan is a utlity can play anywhere on the park, milford plays one position: five eight. Morgan is bigger, faster, stronger, more versatile, can actually tackle.....list can go on.
Pete G
Guest
Michael Morgan is playing the house down!!
Rob
Guest
If I say 13) Papaplii and 8)McGuire would that be different? I'm sure McGuire with a high work rate will be a middle defender. Papalii and Napa will revel in the early exchanges. Morgan has a wonderful ability to get on the outside of opposite number and put the foot down. He also has high top end speed and can pass or short kick behind the line. Morgan like Inglis has a habit of pulling the opposition winger into panic mode when he gets outside his opposite. Ask the Bulldog Josh Morris and the Broncos how hard Morgan is to stop running on the left edge.
Jimmmy
Guest
Someone who understands how QLD works. Only change for mine is Oates for Billy. Boyd deserves his spot and Billy is just not a winger.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
He had a bad patch last year but he is normally solid.