Slater out

Billy Slater’s State of Origin career may be over with the veteran fullback overlooked by Queensland for next week’s series opener. Maroons selectors have snubbed Slater, again handing incumbent Darius Boyd the No 1 Queensland jersey Origin I at Suncorp Stadium on May 31. Champion playmaker Johnathan Thurston has been named as 18th man with coach Kevin Walters earlier conceding he was highly unlikely to be fit to play due to a shoulder injury.