Billy Slater State Of Origin selection now has three Queensland spots to fill after Pat Carrigan and Gehamat Shibasaki were sidelined for Game II. With the Maroons heading to the MCG for a must-win clash, Slater is set to name his side on Monday morning.
Carrigan and Shibasaki out
Carrigan is out with an ankle injury and Shibasaki with a knee injury, forcing Queensland into an immediate reshuffle before Game II. Those absences leave Slater with three places to fill as he tries to keep the series alive.
The timing is sharp. Queensland need a result at the MCG to take the series to a decider, and the squad changes have landed before the side is finalised.
Mam looms as the change
Ezra Mam looks set to make way after Michael Maguire dropped the bench utility to the bench. That move adds another moving part to a selection picture that is already shorter on certainty than Queensland would want at this stage.
Slater now has to balance the injury losses with the available bench structure and decide where the new faces fit around the group heading into Game II.
Monday morning at the MCG
The final call is due on Monday morning, giving Queensland little time before the side is locked in for the interstate match. For a team trying to force the series to a decider, the choices around those three open spots will shape the shape of the Maroons line-up at the MCG.
By the time Slater names his side, the injury list and the bench shake-up will have turned a selection discussion into a test of how quickly Queensland can absorb two setbacks and still field a team built for Game II.
