High and mighty
GOVE-BORN Will Chambers is being tipped to come in from the cold next winter and play for Queensland.
The Melbourne Storm centre, who has been selected for Queensland’s Emerging Origin squad, has just returned from AFL club St Kilda’s training camp in Boulder, Colorado.
Chambers said the trip was a valuable one as he prepares for the 2014 NRL season.
‘‘It was good, different, but I enjoyed it,’’ said Chambers, who many believe will fill the State of Origin void left by the ankle injury to Justin Hodges.
Chambers has donned the maroon of Queensland in rugby union and was in camp with the Queensland Origin side for the 2013 series but is yet to be sighted among the game’s best players on the representative stage.
That is almost certain to change in 2014.
Hodges is not expected to play any part in State of Origin, which has opened up a spot in Mal Meninga’s backline.
Given Chambers was the man on standby this year, it appears he is next in line.
But at the moment Chambers is concentrating on pre-season with the Storm, which began in the high altitude of Colorado.
‘‘It was something to freshen me up a little bit,’’ Chambers told the Storm website.
‘‘ Cooper ( Cronk) did it last year with the Brisbane Lions and I thought it might be beneficial. It obviously gave him some benefits last year ending up going on to win the Dally M.
‘‘I just thought that if it is going to give me a little bit of a boost and a good start to the year, I’d have a go at it.’’
Chambers said it was interesting to be involved in an AFL preseason and see the differences between the two codes.
‘‘I got to experience what an AFL pre-season is all about and it was tough,’’ Chambers said.
‘‘Obviously they do a lot more running so I’ve built a good fitness base going into the season and pre-season.
‘‘ They are phenomenal athletes. I do respect them for the way they train,’’ he said. (1nb), S Afridi 5.4-0-46-2 (1w). Overs: 49.4 Toss: Sri Lanka Umpires: Ahsan Raza, Richard Illingworth TV umpire: Johan Cloete Match referee: David Boon Sri Lanka won by two wickets.
Series is tied at 1-1.
New Zealand v West Indies