Queensland coach Billy Slater has taken one of the biggest selection gambles in Origin history by picking Roosters rookie Robert Toia after just 10 NRL games.
Toia is one of six debutants in the squad when Slater’s new-look team kicks off their campaign to win the shield back from NSW at Suncorp Stadium next Wednesday.
The 20-year-old centre, who made his debut in Round 1, has been catapulted into the Maroons squad despite his limited experience after injuries to Murray Taulagi and Selwyn Cobbo.
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Taulagi was ruled out of Queensland’s side with a calf injury while Cobbo will have scans on a suspected wrist fracture, opening the door for Toia to make his Origin debut at centre with Valentine Holmes switching to the vacant wing.
“Things change all the time, and we had things happen last night that were out of our control,” Slater said.
“I’ve always said that you wait until that selection time, get all the health reports and then you build Queensland’s best team – that’s what we feel that we have done.
“Robert Toia, I have been watching him closely. Not just the stuff that he does with the football but he has got great principles in his game and I know his coach at the Roosters has a high opinion of that part of his game.
“That was one of the phone calls last night that I will remember for a long time, let alone one he would remember.
“I think he’s a world-class centre, I think he’s a top-line centre and although he’s only 10 games into his NRL career, he’s been through a bit of adversity.
“Watching the principles he has in his game, we think he’s of Origin class.”
Slater has also picked uncapped Storm lock Trent Loeiro and Titans forward Beau Fermor with Canterbury veteran Kurt Mann, Dolphins forward Kulikefu Finefeuiaki and Broncos winger Jesse Arthars among the reserves.
Broncos duo Reece Walsh (knee) and Ben Hunt (hamstring) were unavailable while Dolphins captain Tom Gilbert join the Maroons’ casualty ward on Saturday after suffering a pectoral injury in the loss to the Warriors.
Patrick Carrigan sent a scare through the Queensland camp when he was treated for a jaw injury after Brisbane’s surprise loss to the Dragons on Sunday but Broncos coach Michael Maguire said it was only “a bit of a split in his mouth”.
Graphic warning: Photo below contains gruesome image of Carrigan’s injury
Carrigan has seen a plastic surgeon, but not before posting an image of his horrific cut on social media. But the coach has given a positive injury report.
“Patty got plastic surgery last night, but not sure if he needed it, he might just be worried about his looks,” Slater joked.
“Whenever you get contact to the face and he has a laceration to his lip, I think the main focus is the structural damage.
“From all reports, and I spoke to Patty last night, his jaw is all fine. He’s got stitched up and he’s in great spirits and looking forward to getting into camp.”
Arthars has been called into the Maroons squad as cover for the outside backs as one of the reserves.
Cobbo hurt his wrist in the second half of the loss to the Dragons while playing fullback. He had it strapped and was moved to wing.
Daly Cherry-Evans has opted against retiring from representative football and will lead the Maroons again although his form has wavered following his revelation that this season will be his last at the Sea Eagles.
The good news for Slater is Tino Fa’asuamaleaui is back on deck after missing last year with a torn ACL and Cameron Munster is also in Maroon again after sitting out the 2024 series due to injury.
Mann surged into contention for a bench spot and the 32-year-old journeyman will become the oldest Queensland debutant since Arthur Beetson 45 years ago if he gets on the field.
Fermor has been a shining light for the Titans this season in a struggling side.
Gilbert was likely to start in the pack or at the least be used as a bench option until he suffered his untimely injury on Saturday while trying to deny a Marata Niukore try.
Beau Fermor. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
The Dolphins skipper, who missed most of the 2023 season with a shoulder dislocation and all of 2024 with an ACL rupture, was seen in the dressing room with ice on his pec and left arm in a sling.
“He’s disappointed, but he’s a tough man,” Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf said.
“He has handled disappointment before and he will do it again. He’s not going to be playing in the next couple of weeks with a pec injury, I wouldn’t have thought.
“I don’t know the exact severity of it. We will find that out with a scan, but if it was a minor one he would have played on.”
Maroons team
Origin I
1 Kalyn Ponga
2 Xavier Coates
3 Robert Toia
4 Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
5 Valentine Holmes
6 Cameron Munster
7 Daly Cherry-Evans (c)
8 Moeaki Fotuaika
9 Harry Grant
10 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui
11 Reuben Cotter
12 Jeremiah Nanai
13 Patrick Carrigan
14 Tom Dearden
15 Lindsay Collins
16 Beau Fermor
17 Trent Loeiro
18 Kurt Mann
19 Jesse Arthars
20 Kulikefu Finefeuiaki
with AAP
The Roarhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2025/05/19/queensland-maroons-origin-team-announced-roosters-rookie-stunner-as-slater-takes-huge-gamble-with-five-debutants/‘He’s a world-class centre’: Slater backs Roosters rookie to be an Origin star as part of a triple gamble on debutants
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