Queensland Maroons vs New South Wales Blues – Wednesday night – Suncorp Stadium

Queensland Maroons

1. Darius Boyd (Brisbane Broncos)
2. Corey Oates (Brisbane Broncos)
3. Greg Inglis (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
4. Justin O'Neill (North Queensland Cowboys)
5. Dane Gagai (Newcastle Knights)
6. Jonathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys)
7. Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm)
8. Matt Scott (North Queensland Cowboys)
9. Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm)
10. Josh McGuire (Brisbane Broncos)
11. Matt Gillett (Brisbane Broncos)
12. Sam Thaiday (Brisbane Broncos)
13. Corey Parker (Brisbane Broncos)
14. Michael Morgan (North Queensland Cowboys)
15. Jacob Lillyman (New Zealand Warriors)
16. Aidan Guerra (Sydney Roosters)
17. Josh Papalii (Canberra Raiders)

Coach - Kevin Walters

New South Wales Blues

1. Matt Moylan (Penrith Panthers)
2. Blake Ferguson (Sydney Roosters)
3. Michael Jennings (Parramatta Eels)
4. Dylan Walker (Manly Sea Eagles)
5. Josh Mansour (Penrith Panthers)
6. James Maloney (Cronulla Sharks)
7. Adam Reynolds (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
8. Aaron Woods (Wests Tigers)
9. Robbie Farah (Wests Tigers)
10. James Tamou (North Queensland Cowboys)
11. Greg Bird (Gold Coast Titans)
12. Josh Jackson (Canterbury Bulldogs)
13. Paul Gallen (Cronulla Sharks)
14. Jack Bird (Cronulla Sharks)
15. Tyson Frizell (St George Illawarra Dragons)
16. David Klemmer (Canterbury Bulldogs)
17. Andrew Fifita (Cronulla Sharks)

Coach - Laurie Daley

* note: team line-ups are subject to considerable change, but will be updated as news filters through.

The series is on the line here. Queensland can seal the series at home or New South Wales can keep the series alive and take us to a decider. Suncorp Stadium has been the venue of many an Origin game where the series was on the line - that in itself isn't unusual. But what is unusual is New South Wales winning such a game. The last time they did so was way back in game three of the 2005 series where they absolutely walloped Queensland 32-10 (at one stage they led 32-0). That New South Wales team were quite a team - Minichiello, Gasnier, Cooper, Tahu, Johns, Buderus, Hindmarsh, Fitzgibbon, Kennedy etc. When you look back at that New South Wales team and you look back at the Queensland team they beat it's not a complete surprise. But that was way back in 2005, and since then Queensland have won every single game at Suncorp where the series was there to be won or lost. Almost every time, Queensland have won easily. Can this NSW team repeat the heroics of that 2005 team? I say it's unlikely. Every 2005 player I've named earlier would be a walk-up start for NSW if they were playing today. Not only will they need to match the heroics of that 2005 side, they need to do so against a far stronger opponent. I say it's highly unlikely. In the last four outings at Suncorp, Queensland have scored 19 tries while NSW have scored five, with a combined aggregate over that period of 118 points for QLD and just 32 points for NSW. That's a gap job - it's a chasm. And while I agree that the gap is shrinking and these Queensland greats aren't as young as they once were, they are clearly the best team on the park. Often game two of the series is a more open affair (the exception that proves the rule is when game two is played at ANZ Stadium). While I'm not expecting razzle-dazzle and end-to-end football (particularly after the drenching the surface has received today), Queensland should get enough opportunities to cross the stripe. And let's be perfectly frank, if they can score two tries or more it's probably enough to win. I'll back them to do just that.

Verdict – QLD 22 : NSW 10

First try scorer - Dane Gagai

Man of the Match - Darius Boyd