Qld Teams - Civoniceva returns for Maroons

Veteran prop Petero Civoniceva has recovered from a broken hand and will play for Queensland in Origin III at ANZ Stadium next week.

Civoniceva missed four weeks of football after suffering the injury in Origin I but made a successful return for club side Penrith last Friday night.

He slots straight back into the starting side as Queensland travel to Sydney in the hope of securing their first series whitewash since 1995.

With replacement front row pairing Matt Scott and David Shillington in irresistible form, the unlucky man to miss out is Bulldogs bookend Ben Hannant.

The Broncos-bound prop, who missed Origin I with a knee injury, replaced Civoniceva for the Maroons 34-6 drubbing of NSW in Origin II at Suncorp Stadium.

That rout ensured Queensland became the first side in 30 years of Origin history to claim five consecutive interstate series.

All attention now is on a ‘Maroonwash’ with Queensland desperate to reaffirm their dominance by winning all three games this year.

AFL-bound winger Israel Folau has been selected despite cries from the NSWRL the vision will be used by the rival code to promote their game.

It will be Folau’s final Origin match for Queensland while champion five-eighth Darren Lockyer has indicated next week’s match in Sydney may not be his Maroon swansong.

South Sydney lock Ben Lowe has been named 18th man.

Meanwhile the Queensland Residents team, made up of players from the Queensland Cup, has been named.

The squad includes recent NRL-experienced players David Milne (Canberra), Steve Michaels (Gold Coast), Josh McGuire (Brisbane) and Jamie Buhrer (Manly).

The team plays the New South Wales Residents in the curtain raiser to Origin III.

‘Baby’ Broncos host Tigers

The Brisbane Broncos will again rely on their youth as they battle a full strength Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium on Friday.

Brisbane have lost captain Lockyer, leading try scorer Folau and inspirational forwards leader Sam Thaiday to Queensland duty.

Corey Norman again steps into Lockyer’s five-eighth jersey as the Broncos aim to replicate the 50-22 hammering of South Sydney last time they were without their representative stars.

Coach Ivan Henjak named Ben Te’o as Folau’s replacement in the centres while Ashton Sims and Lagi Setu form a new look back row.

Corey Parker captains the side with props Scott Anderson (elbow soreness) and Josh McGuire returning on the bench.

A win over the third placed Tigers will see the Broncos leapfrog them towards the top four.

Bird returns to NSW

Gold Coast five-eighth Greg Bird last night was one of eight new faces to the Blues side as he won a recall after a two year absence.

He has played four games for New South Wales after debuting in 2007 but hasn’t played since Cronulla tore up his contract in January 2009 for off-field incidents.

Bird has been solid for the Titans in his NRL return this season and his form over the last month has proved too hard for the selectors to ignore.

He joins Queensland regular Ashley Harrison as the Titans only representative players this season.

With the bye this weekend, the Titans will hope to have some troops back on deck after a challenging injury period.

Already without Scott Prince and Luke O’Dwyer (hamstring injuries), the Titans lost right side combination David Mead (ankle ligaments) and Sam Tagataese (shoulder ligaments) in the first half of their 24-16 loss to Newcastle on Sunday.

The Titans will hope to at least have Prince back for their next match against Wests Tigers on Friday week.

Cowboys lose two

North Queensland Cowboys have the bye this weekend but have lost two of their forwards to rival clubs.

After spending the last 18 months shifting between the NRL and Queensland Cup, Manase Manuokafoa has been released immediately to join Parramatta.

Manuokafoa has had an unhappy time in Townsville unable to secure a regular spot in the side after arriving with high expectations from South Sydney last season.

Former Storm and Queensland prop Antonio Kaufusi followed a similar path and was released last week to join Newcastle.

North Queensland have been active in the recruitment market with Broncos winger Antonio Winterstein and former Queensland centre Brent Tate to join the club from next season.

The Cowboys lost a seemingly unlosable contest with Cronulla on the weekend after blowing an 18-0 lead to fall 19-20 losers in extra time.

North Queensland has the bye this weekend with their chances of playing finals football all but blown for the 2010 season.

This weekend the Broncos game is live on Channel Nine from 7:30pm Friday with Origin III live on the network on Wednesday with kick-off at 8pm.

Queensland vs. NSW, Origin III, July 7th, ANZ Stadium, Sydney (Channel 9, 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), Neville Costigan (St George-Illawarra), David Taylor (South Sydney). 18th Man – Ben Lowe (South Sydney).

Brisbane Broncos vs. Tigers, Friday 7:35pm, (Channel Nine, live)
Josh Hoffman, Antonio Winterstein, Matt Gillett, Ben Te’o, Israel Folau, Jharal Yow Yeh, Corey Norman, Peter Wallace, Shane Tronc, Andrew McCullough, Nick Kenny, Ashton Sims, Lagi Setu, Corey Parker (c). Interchange: Ben Hunt, Mitchell Dodds, Scott Anderson, Josh McGuire.