Thurston, Slater return lifts Queensland Origin hopes

SYDNEY: Queensland are banking on the return of Test greats Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston to rekindle hopes of defending their State of Origin series crown against New South Wales in Sydney today.

Injured Thurston and overlooked Slater were missing when the NSW Blues decisively won the opening match of the series 28-4 over the Maroons in Brisbane last month.

Mal Meninga’s Queenslanders must win Wednesday’s crunch game to take the fiercely-fought interstate series to a decider in Brisbane on July 12.

Queensland have won 10 of the last 11 interstate series-including 22 match victories to 12 — and face a confident unchanged NSW line-up.

But the return of Origin warriors Thurston and Slater may tilt the balance as they reunite with influential Melbourne Storm pair, skipper Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk to recharge the Maroons.

A shoulder injury kept Thurston out of game one, ending his record run of 36 straight Origins.

“He’s one of the greatest players of all time. I am looking forward to seeing him play for Queensland again,” Smith said.

Queensland have revamped their forward pack, dropping veterans Nate Myles and Sam Thaiday, along with Jacob Lillyman and Aidan Guerra. “Definitely it’s a changing of the guard,” Smith said. “It’s just time for those guys to move on and see some young guys come in.” Coach Kevin Walters has gambled by moving Darius Boyd from fullback to left centre to accommodate the return of Slater with Boyd having never played in that position in Origin. “It’s a bit of a risk as such, but not in my eyes,” Walters said. “We have full confidence in Darius’s ability.”

Destructive prop Andrew Fifita was dynamic for the Blues in the first game and NSW captain Boyd Cordner has warned Queensland that any attempt to target him is fraught with danger.

“If they want to just focus in on one player, we’ve got a lot of strike across the field where we can hurt them,” Cordner said. Teams (1-17)

NSW: James Tedesco; Brett Morris, Josh Dugan, Jarryd Hayne, Blake Ferguson; James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce; Aaron Woods, Nathan Peats, Andrew Fifita; Boyd Cordner (capt), Josh Jackson; Tyson Frizell. Interchange: David Klemmer, Wade Graham, Jake Trbojevic, Jack Bird.

Queensland: Billy Slater; Valentine Holmes, Will Chambers, Darius Boyd, Dane Gagai; Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk; Dylan Napa, Cameron Smith (capt), Jarrod Wallace; Gavin Cooper, Matt Gillett; Josh McGuire. Interchange: Michael Morgan, Josh Papalii, Coen Hess, Tim Glasby. Referees: Matt Cecchin, Gerard Sutton.