Queensland coach Billy Slater has made three changes to the team for game two of the State of Origin series, all forced upon the Maroons due to injury.
Gold Coast prop Moeaki Fotuaika, Melbourne winger Xavier Coates and North Queensland second-rower Jeremiah Nanai have earned recalls for the showdown with NSW at Suncorp Stadium on June 21.
They replace Jai Arrow (syndesmosis), Selwyn Cobbo (hip) and Tom Gilbert (shoulder surgery) who were members of the 17 who beat NSW 26-18 in game one in Adelaide.
Cobbo aggravated a hip injury, sustained in Adelaide, while playing in Brisbane’s 24-20 win over Newcastle on Saturday night.
Coates had a stellar game for the Storm in their 54-10 thrashing of Cronulla on Sunday. The 22-year-old, who has played six Origin games, featured in the game one side in 2022 but injured an ankle in the first half and missed the rest of the series.
The Maroons have also made two changes to their extended squad with Titans fullback AJ Brimson replacing Cowboys playmaker Tom Dearden as 18th man.
The Titans have a bye in round 16 and Brimson’s inclusion will allow Dearden to play for the Cowboys in their home clash with Penrith
Canberra forward Corey Horsburgh is the new 19th man, replacing Storm prop Christian Welch, who faces a one-game ban for dangerous contact on Sharks forward Royce Hunt on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Nanai was suspended when the team for Adelaide was selected and returns to the side to replace Gilbert in the second-row.
Nanai, who played in all three Origin games last year, plays right edge for the Cowboys so will slot straight into the position Gilbert occupied in Adelaide before dislocating his shoulder.
Titans warhorse Fotuaika replaces Arrow on the bench. The 23-year-old Tongan international played the last of his four Origin games for Queensland in 2021.
This season has been his best in the NRL, where he has averaged a career-high 157 running metres per match in 13 games. He also brings the defensive solidity needed in the Origin cauldron and has averaged 32 tackles per game in 2023 with an impressive efficiency rate of 95 per cent.
The Maroons can wrap up the series with a win in Brisbane. If they do it will be the first time they have won consecutive Origin series since their treble from 2015 to 2017.
Queensland 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. Tom Flegler, 16. Reuben Cotter, 17. Moeaki Fotuaika, 18, AJ Brimson, 19. Corey Horsburgh.
– AAP
