Queensland have made three changes to the team that won the series-opener in Adelaide, naming Jeremiah Nanai, Xavier Coates and Moeaki Fotuaika in the 17 for Origin II.
AJ Brimson and Corey Horsburgh have also been added to the squad as 18th and 19th man.
The three outs from Billy Slater's side that kicked off the series in game one are Selwyn Cobbo, Tom Gilbert and Jai Arrow, who all miss through injury.
LIVE: Rolling coverage of Origin II selection
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MAROONS ORIGIN II TEAM
1. Reece Walsh 2. Xavier Coates 3. Valentine Holmes 4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Cameron Munster 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Lindsay Collins 9. Ben Hunt 10. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui 11. David Fifita 12. Jeremiah Nanai 13. Patrick Carrigan 14. Harry Grant 15. Thomas Flegler 16. Reuben Cotter 17. Moeaki Fotuaika 18. AJ Brimson 19. Corey Horsburgh
Gilbert and Arrow were both injured in Origin I and were ruled out well in advance of selection. Cobbo aggravated a hip pointer injury in the Broncos' win over the Knights on Saturday, with Slater explaining that the Queensland selectors had decided to leave him out of the side rather than to risk him when he was going to be limited in his preparation.
"Heading into next Wednesday we thought the best option was to bring Xavier in," Slater told media following the team announcement.
"Xavier's been playing fantastic footy, he was involved in the series last year, unfortunate to do his ankle in game one, and he tried to play on with it. He showed plenty of courage to stay out there for a period of time and he's been playing some great footy so we looked to welcome him back into the team."
While Coates was the obvious player to bring in for the injured Cobbo, there was a strong case for Queensland to bring back one of their most loyal servants, Felise Kaufusi, to replace the injured Gilbert on the right edge.
Slater confirmed Kafusi had come under consideration but an eye-catching performance from Nanai after returning from suspension had swung the selectors to go with the younger player.
Watch the 2023 State of Origin series LIVE and exclusive on Channel 9 and 9Now
"We just feel this is the best ingredients for the Queensland team for this game," Slater said.
"Felise has done a fantastic job for the Queensland team throughout his whole career but in particular for this maroon jersey. It's just a shame that he hasn't been playing football over the past month. That's pretty important, to go out there and play one of the highest intensity games of rugby league without any footy under your belt, well it's not easy, but we felt this was the best option."
Slater added that despite Nanai's stop start season due to suspension, he had shown his true colours after making his return in last week's thumping victory against thye Storm.
"He played all three games last year and was outstanding," Slater said. "I think the thing that gave me confidence in Jeremiah coming back into the team is he did come back from suspension and I felt that was probably the most energy he had in his footy all year.
"It looked like the Jeremiah of last year and he's obviously worked really hard through that period he was off and he's another guy who's earned his opportunity. He's a Queenslander, he's done the job before and he played really well on the weekend."
Slater also revealed that he had already decided on Sunday night to dump Storm prop Christian Welch from the Maroons' extended squad after he was named 19th man for game one.
Welch was on Monday charged by the match review committee and faces a one-match suspension if he enters an early guilty plea but Slater said he wouldn't have been in the team regardless.
"We made this decision last night and that was before the match review committee came down with their suspension, so we made this decision last night."
Slater refused to buy into questions about generational change after preferring younger candidates in all three team changes, with Dane Gagai, Kaufusi and Welch overlooked.
He was asked: "Are you looking for the younger, more athletic players to be part of your game plan as opposed to the likes of Papa (Josh Papalii) and Christian Welch?"
He responded: "We're looking for the best Queenslanders to do their job for Queensland, that's... We look for the best person for that role, sometimes they're tough decisions, sometimes they're obvious decisions, but at the end of the day no one watches our Queenslanders more than me and that gives me confidence to make that final decision and I'm really comfortable with the players I have in this squad, they've all earnt their opportunity, and they're all fit and ready to go."
The Queensland team has been named a full day in advance of the Blues, with several candidates for Brad Fittler's squad involved in the King's Birthday clash between the Eels and the Bulldogs.
NSW will name their squad at 11am on Tuesday.
MAROONS ORIGIN I TEAM
1. Reece Walsh 2. Selwyn Cobbo 3. Valentine Holmes 4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Cameron Munster 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Ben Hunt 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Tom Gilbert 12. David Fifita 13. Patrick Carrigan 14. Harry Grant 15. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui 16. Reuben Cotter 17. Jai Arrow 18. Tom Dearden 19. Christian Welch
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Queensland have made three changes to the team that won the series-opener in Adelaide, naming Jeremiah Nanai, Xavier Coates and Moeaki Fotuaika in the 17 for Origin II.
AJ Brimson and Corey Horsburgh have also been added to the squad as 18th and 19th man.
The three outs from Billy Slater's side that kicked off the series in game one are Selwyn Cobbo, Tom Gilbert and Jai Arrow, who all miss through injury.
LIVE: Rolling coverage of Origin II selection
READ MORE: Djokovic wins record 23rd slam title at Roland-Garros
READ MORE: Sharks coach urged to make major change after flogging
READ MORE: Richmond AFL legend airlifted to hospital after crash
MAROONS ORIGIN II TEAM
1. Reece Walsh 2. Xavier Coates 3. Valentine Holmes 4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Cameron Munster 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Lindsay Collins 9. Ben Hunt 10. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui 11. David Fifita 12. Jeremiah Nanai 13. Patrick Carrigan 14. Harry Grant 15. Thomas Flegler 16. Reuben Cotter 17. Moeaki Fotuaika 18. AJ Brimson 19. Corey Horsburgh
Gilbert and Arrow were both injured in Origin I and were ruled out well in advance of selection. Cobbo aggravated a hip pointer injury in the Broncos' win over the Knights on Saturday, with Slater explaining that the Queensland selectors had decided to leave him out of the side rather than to risk him when he was going to be limited in his preparation.
"Heading into next Wednesday we thought the best option was to bring Xavier in," Slater told media following the team announcement.
"Xavier's been playing fantastic footy, he was involved in the series last year, unfortunate to do his ankle in game one, and he tried to play on with it. He showed plenty of courage to stay out there for a period of time and he's been playing some great footy so we looked to welcome him back into the team."
While Coates was the obvious player to bring in for the injured Cobbo, there was a strong case for Queensland to bring back one of their most loyal servants, Felise Kaufusi, to replace the injured Gilbert on the right edge.
Slater confirmed Kafusi had come under consideration but an eye-catching performance from Nanai after returning from suspension had swung the selectors to go with the younger player.
Watch the 2023 State of Origin series LIVE and exclusive on Channel 9 and 9Now
"We just feel this is the best ingredients for the Queensland team for this game," Slater said.
"Felise has done a fantastic job for the Queensland team throughout his whole career but in particular for this maroon jersey. It's just a shame that he hasn't been playing football over the past month. That's pretty important, to go out there and play one of the highest intensity games of rugby league without any footy under your belt, well it's not easy, but we felt this was the best option."
Slater added that despite Nanai's stop start season due to suspension, he had shown his true colours after making his return in last week's thumping victory against thye Storm.
"He played all three games last year and was outstanding," Slater said. "I think the thing that gave me confidence in Jeremiah coming back into the team is he did come back from suspension and I felt that was probably the most energy he had in his footy all year.
"It looked like the Jeremiah of last year and he's obviously worked really hard through that period he was off and he's another guy who's earned his opportunity. He's a Queenslander, he's done the job before and he played really well on the weekend."
Slater also revealed that he had already decided on Sunday night to dump Storm prop Christian Welch from the Maroons' extended squad after he was named 19th man for game one.
Welch was on Monday charged by the match review committee and faces a one-match suspension if he enters an early guilty plea but Slater said he wouldn't have been in the team regardless.
"We made this decision last night and that was before the match review committee came down with their suspension, so we made this decision last night."
Slater refused to buy into questions about generational change after preferring younger candidates in all three team changes, with Dane Gagai, Kaufusi and Welch overlooked.
He was asked: "Are you looking for the younger, more athletic players to be part of your game plan as opposed to the likes of Papa (Josh Papalii) and Christian Welch?"
He responded: "We're looking for the best Queenslanders to do their job for Queensland, that's... We look for the best person for that role, sometimes they're tough decisions, sometimes they're obvious decisions, but at the end of the day no one watches our Queenslanders more than me and that gives me confidence to make that final decision and I'm really comfortable with the players I have in this squad, they've all earnt their opportunity, and they're all fit and ready to go."
The Queensland team has been named a full day in advance of the Blues, with several candidates for Brad Fittler's squad involved in the King's Birthday clash between the Eels and the Bulldogs.
NSW will name their squad at 11am on Tuesday.
MAROONS ORIGIN I TEAM
1. Reece Walsh 2. Selwyn Cobbo 3. Valentine Holmes 4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Cameron Munster 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Ben Hunt 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Tom Gilbert 12. David Fifita 13. Patrick Carrigan 14. Harry Grant 15. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui 16. Reuben Cotter 17. Jai Arrow 18. Tom Dearden 19. Christian Welch
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