Greg Inglis, man who probably should be playing for New South Wales, has been named the new captain of the Queensland State of Origin side, after the Maroons named their squad for the hotly anticipated 2018 series earlier this morning.
Inglis replaces long-serving Cameron Smith as the Queensland captain, after the veteran abruptly retired from all forms of representative footy earlier this month.
Queensland coach Kevin Winter unveiled a vastly different-look Maroons side for the series against the Blues, with Queensland set to field a side without Smith, Cooper Cronk, or Johnathan Thurston for the first time in recent memory.
Darius Boyd and Matt Scott have both been sensationally dropped from the Game 1 squad, with Queensland set to field a side very light on rep footy experience; of the squad named, only Inglis and Billy Slater have more than 10 Origin games to their names.
The Maroons side sports three debutants: Broncos hooker Andrew McCullough will fill Cameron Smith’s highly coveted number 9 jersey in his first appearance for Queensland, while Gold Coast’s Jai Arrow and Melbourne Storm’s Felise Kaufusi will also make their debuts.
Inglis’ selection as captain is the first time in 47 years that a South Sydney Rabbitohs player has been named captain of a state side, and is the first time in club history that a Rabbitoh has been named captain of Queensland.
He’s captained his club and now he will captain his state. ❤️💚🐇
Greg Inglis is the Rabbitohs’ first state captain in 47 years. 👏
Our first State of Origin captain. 🙌
And our first Queensland captain.👍Full story: https://t.co/3d0Db3SKdq#GoRabbitohs #SOO pic.twitter.com/y22fnzcqJV
— South Sydney Rabbitohs 🐰 (@SSFCRABBITOHS) May 28, 2018
Today’s Maroons announcement comes ahead of NSW’s planned side unveiling, which is set to feature as many as 11 debutants, with coach Brad Fittler taking the broom to the list that spectacularly capitulated to Queensland in last year’s series and, in the process, ushering in a new era of State of Origin football.
The full Queensland Maroons side is as follows:
- Billy Slater – Melbourne Storm
- Valentine Holms – Cronulla Sharks
- Greg Inglis (c) – South Sydney Rabbitohs
- Will Chambers – Melbourne Storm
- Dane Gagai – South Sydney Rabbitohs
- Cameorn Munster – Melbourne Storm
- Ben Hunt – St George-Illawarra Dragons
- Dylan Napa – Sydney Roosters
- Andrew McCullough – Brisbane Broncos
- Jarrod Wallace – Gold Coast Titans
- Gavin Cooper – North Queensland Cowboys
- Felise Kaufusi – Melbourne Storm
- Josh McGuire – Brisbane Broncos
- Michael Morgan – North Queensland Cowboys
- Josh Papalii – Canberra Raiders
- Coen Hess – North Queensland Cowboys
- Jai Arrow – Gold Coast Titans
State of Origin Game 1 for 2018 is scheduled for Wednesday, June 6th at the MCG in Melbourne.
