Injured Storm hooker Cameron Smith has been named in the Queensland squad for State of Origin I in Sydney next week.
Smith has not played since injuring his elbow in Australia’s Test match win over New Zealand just over two weeks ago.
He will be given until Saturday to prove his fitness as the Maroons embark on their campaign for an unprecedented fifth straight series win.
Smith has played 19 consecutive Origins for Queensland dating back to Game III of the 2003 series.
Uncapped Manly hooker Matt Ballin has been added to the squad as a shadow player for Smith.
Fellow rookies David Taylor and Cooper Cronk will make their Origin debuts after being named on the bench.
Johnathan Thurston, who returned last week from a shoulder injury, will once again partner Darren Lockyer in the halves.
Maroons captain Lockyer has announced this will be his final series for Queensland and sited the chance to finish with five consecutive series was a motivating factor.
Israel Folau’s seemingly pending NRL departure has been overlooked and he will again team with Darius Boyd on the wings.
Greg Inglis and Cowboy Willie Tonga are the centres with Billy Slater, as expected, named at fullback.
Nate Myles earns a recall after missing Game III last year for an off-field incident with his club side Sydney Roosters.
Myles partners one of the form forwards of the competition, Sam Thaiday, in the back row with Titan Ashley Harrison to play lock.
Cowboys prop Matt Scott joins veteran Petero Civoniceva in the front row.
The bench is comprised of Cronk, Taylor, Australian prop David Shillington and Dragons back-rower Neville Costigan.
Form Broncos back-rower Ben Te’o has been named as 18th man.
The team this year is without regular forwards Dallas Johnson (England) and injured pair Steve Price and Michael Crocker – neither of whom have played an NRL match this season.
Queensland head into camp today and will likely head to Sydney on Tuesday next week.
Blues bypass Qld Teams
New South Wales named their 17 man squad for the series opener during Monday Night Football last night.
The squad ignored the claims of the five Queensland-based representatives from the annual NSW City vs. Country match in Port Macquarie 10 days ago.
Titans five-eighth Greg Bird, thought to be in the mix for either the pivot, lock or bench position, was over-looked while back-row pair Anthony Laffranchi and Mark Minichiello were never discussed as serious Origin I options.
Willie Mason was talked about as earning an Origin re-call following a strong six weeks with the Cowboys.
However he has been overlooked with most of the forwards from Game III last season retained.
Cowboys lock Luke O’Donnell returned in New Zealand on the weekend from a knee injury suffered in City-Country.
With limited game time in the last six weeks due to injury and suspension, O’Donnell was always considered an unlikely starter for the first Origin match.
Weekend off in Queensland
With all Origin players unavailable at club level, the Titans, Broncos and Cowboys all have the first of two ‘byes’ this weekend.
The week off comes at a handy time for the Gold Coast who have been patchy, yet winning, during the past few weeks.
A three game winning streak came to a thudding halt last weekend with the Broncos running out convincing 28-6 winners in the derby match at Suncorp Stadium.
On the back of consecutive, impressive victories, Brisbane will hope to have hooker Andrew McCullough (pectoral) and prop Nick Kenny (calf) fit for their Round 12 match with Cronulla in two weeks.
The Cowboys will use the free week to desperately re-group and try to salvage their season.
North Queensland slumped to their seventh loss of the season when they were beaten 24-12 by the Warriors last week.
As they have done regularly throughout the year, the Cowboys gave their opposition a big lead and could do little to run it down late in the match.
Anchored towards the bottom of the ladder, the Cowboys will need a mid-season revival if they hope to play Finals football for the first time in three years.
With Thurston, O’Donnell and Carl Webb returning against the Warriors to join the likes of Aaron Payne and Matt Bowen, the Cowboys should be virtually at full strength for their next match.
Origin I will be broadcast live on Channel Nine from 7:30pm on Wednesday May 26th, from ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
New South Wales vs. QLD, Origin I, May 26th ANZ Stadium, Sydney (Channel Nine, live).
Kurt Gidley (captain, Newcastle), Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta), Matt Cooper (St George-Illawarra), Timana Tahu (Parramatta), Brett Morris (St George-Illawarra), Jamie Lyon (Parramatta), Brett Kimmorley (Canterbury-Bankstown), Michael Weyman (St George-Illawarra), Michael Ennis (Canterbury-Bankstown), Josh Perry (Manly), Trent Waterhouse (Penrith), Ben Creagh (St George-Illawarra), Anthony Watmough (Manly). Interchange: Jamal Idris (Canterbury-Bankstown), Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (Canberra), Luke Lewis (Penrith), Brett White (Melbourne).
Queensland vs. NSW, Origin I, May 26th ANZ Stadium, Sydney (Channel Nine, live).
Billy Slater (Melbourne), Darius Boyd (St George-Illawarra), Greg Inglis (Melbourne), Willie Tonga (North Queensland), Israel Folau (Brisbane), Darren Lockyer (captain, Brisbane), Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland), Matt Scott (North Queensland), Cameron Smith (Melbourne), Petero Civoniceva (Penrith), Nate Myles (Roosters), Sam Thaiday (Brisbane), Ashley Harrison (Gold Coast). Interchange: Cooper Cronk (Melbourne), David Shillington (Canberra), David Taylor (South Sydney), Neville Costigan (St George-Illawarra). 18th Man – Ben Te’o (Brisbane), Matt Ballin (Manly – Shadow Player for Smith).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment