The State of Origin Game 1 teams have been confirmed, with Dane Gagai and Ben Hunt set to line up for the Queensland Maroons despite earlier concerns, while the New South Wales Blues are unchanged from the side named two Mondays ago.
It’s been somewhat of a hellish camp for the Maroons. Already without three of their retired big four, they lost Billy Slater to injury on Monday.
All the wash-up from State of Origin 1:
» GORE: Gritty Queensland hurt by two key missed calls
» The funniest State of Origin ratings on the internet
» How the Blues fared at the MCG: NSW Game 1 player ratings
» How the Maroons performed: Queensland Game 1 player ratings
» State of Origin highlights and match report
In response, Queensland coach Kevin Walters shifted Michael Morgan to fullback, with Anthony Milford called onto the bench and boom Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga brought into the squad as cover.
There were fears he would be needed for Game 1 yesterday after Dane Gagai suffered a compound dislocation to the finger during the captain’s run, but he has been confirmed as fit to play.
The Maroons were also uncertain about the status of Ben Hunt, who had suffered a cork to the leg playing for the Dragons, but he will also be fit to start the game.
The New South Wales camp has been a lot more stress-free, with the Blues not suffering any injuries during the last week. While there were original concerns about the fitness of debutant centre James Roberts, he has passed all of his tests and been cleared to play the series opener.
New South Wales Blues
1. James Tedesco
2. Tom Trbojevic
3. Latrell Mitchell
4. James Roberts
5. Josh Addo-Carr
6. James Maloney
7. Nathan Cleary
8. David Klemmer
9. Damien Cook
10. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
11. Boyd Cordner (c)
12. Tyson Frizell
13. Jack de Belin.
Interchange
14. Paul Vaughan
15. Jake Trbojevic
16. Angus Crichton
17. Tyrone Peachey.
Queensland Maroons
14. Michael Morgan
2. Valentine Holmes
3. Greg Inglis (c)
4. Will Chambers
5. Dane Gagai
6. Cameron Munster
7. Ben Hunt
8. Dylan Napa
9. Andrew McCullough
10. Jarrod Wallace
11. Gavin Cooper
12. Felise Kaufusi
13. Josh McGuire.
Interchange
15. Josh Papalii
16. Coen Hess
17. Jai Arrow
19. Anthony Milford
Don’t forget to tune into The Roar from 8pm (AEST) as we bring you the best live blog of the match on the internet, as well as all the highlights, analysis and opinion from Game 1.
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