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STATE of Origin teams aren’t ordered from some catalogue in the way a family might select a range of winter clothes.

NSW followed that method for years, blessed with a multitude of players of different sizes and shapes, men at opposite ends of the age spectrum and from a range of clubs. They tended to concentrate on those with attacking skills, ignoring a willingness to defend.

Queensland discovered the secret of what defines an Origin player much earlier.

It’s unselfishness. A willingness by the player to put his body on the line. To pass the ball in response to a dominant call, despite the personal opportunity for a try or metres gained. To take the ball up when others decline.

So, when Maroons coach Kevin Walters sat down with Queensland’s Storm quartet of Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Will Chambers at 8.30am in a Sydney hotel last week, it was a strong clue Melbourne forward Tim Glasby would be selected in their team for Wednesday’s vital second State of Origin clash.

The night before the breakfast meeting, the Storm had played the Sharks. Glasby had tormented Cronulla, NSW and Australia forward Andrew Fifita in the Storm’s five-point victory, causing the man who dominated the Maroons in Origin I to revert to some of his sloppy habits.

For a big man, Fifita has a very fast play the ball, meaning it is beneficial to hold him up before he falls to the ground and rises quickly to play the ball. He didn’t like the constant attention from the Melbourne forwards and reacted in ways that undermine those who say he is now a focused player who can’t be distracted.

Glasby is the type of unselfish forward made for Origin. As his Storm coach, Craig Bellamy, says: ‘‘He’s always there to make a tackle and run the ball.’’

Storm statistics show Glasby has a higher work rate than his captain, Smith, if the measure is tackles made per minute.

So, when I asked Walters what his breakfast meeting was all about, he said: ‘‘I was just picking their brains.’’

Translation: Which forwards to pick to replace the four who failed in Origin I?

The answer from Smith would have been: ‘‘I want Glasby beside me.’’

Which, of course, explains why a Sydney newspaper got it so wrong when it diminished Glasby. On what should have been Glasby’s best day in rugby league, he was deemed a nobody.

But, as Bellamy said of another Melbourne forward who became a mandatory inclusion in the Maroons pack: ‘‘Dallas Johnson got bagged in the press when he was first selected for Queensland.’’

Johnson was once knocked senseless in an Origin match in Brisbane and, as he was assisted from the field with jelly legs, could be heard saying through his throaty voice: ‘‘Get me back out there.’’ Johnson was as skinny as an airmail letter, but his jolting tackles put opponents to sleep quicker than Brahms’ Lullaby.

Before any of the anticoncussion brigade reach for their keyboards, I’m not trivialising a serious problem but reflecting on the passionate commitment of Queenslanders.

At this year’s first Origin match in Brisbane, it was clear to