NRL Immortal and former Queensland Maroons coach Mal Meninga has revealed who he would pick ahead of Game I of State of Origin.
Meninga led the Maroons to an unprecedented era of success from 2006-2015, winning nine of the ten series he was a part of as the coach whilst developing some of the greatest players in the game’s history.
Now, Meninga plies his trade as the coach of the national team and won the 2022 World Cup with an abundance of Queensland forwards who played a crucial role in the successful run.
Speaking to SENQ, Meninga opened up on who he considers a non-negotiable for Game I whilst ruling out a couple of Maroons veterans.
“Pat Carrigan, obviously, Man of the Series last year, having a terrific year at the Broncos last year, made the Kangaroos, is a young great leader of a footy team, he certainly won’t let them down,” Meninga told SENQ Mornings.
“Felise Kaufusi as well, he’s having a terrific year, they (NSW) don’t want to run into him, he’s got that experience as well which is very important at Origin level.
“He (David Fifita) is playing really good footy at the moment, he needs to be in the side in my opinion, he could become a non-negotiable because he is an X-factor.
Meninga admitted Billy Slater will have a selection headache on his hands for the remaining positions in the forward pack.
“Front rowers, you’ve got to go Tino (Fa’asuamaleuai) and Lindsay Collins… (Josh) Papali’i obviously and you could go with four front rowers I think Reuben Cotter is the other option at prop,” Meninga added.
“Someone like Christian Welch does miss out based on that (but) he (Cotter) is a fantastic player and probably needs to be in the squad somewhere.
“For Game I, I think he’s (Corey Horsburgh) in the squad, he deserves to be in the team, you’ve got to pick a team you know is going to perform, Game I is really critical to the success of the Origin series.
“Depending on what happens in Game I you could start to maybe bring in a player or couple of players that could strengthen the footy team, you don’t know.”
Meninga also noted he would consider only taking one of Ben Hunt or Harry Grant in order to get a more versatile utility player in the 14 jerseys.
Billy Slater will select his extended squad for Game I at the conclusion of Round 11 ahead of the series opener in Adelaide on the 31st of May.
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