{"id":88266,"date":"2021-06-20T23:41:01","date_gmt":"2021-06-20T23:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=88266"},"modified":"2021-06-21T00:01:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T00:01:44","slug":"queensland-lock-in-bombshell-origin-ii-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=88266","title":{"rendered":"Queensland lock in bombshell Origin II pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rookie Warriors superstar Reece Walsh<\/a> has been confirmed as Queensland's new fullback for State of Origin<\/a> II.<\/p>\n

Walsh, 18, will become the Maroons youngest player in 26 years and their second-least experienced in history on Sunday in Brisbane, a must-win match after Queensland were hammered 50-6 in Origin I. With just seven NRL games to his credit, Walsh trails only Ben Ikin (four games), who also debuted at 18 during the 1995 series.<\/p>\n

Walsh has been in scintillating form for New Zealand since switching clubs from Brisbane, scoring four tries and notching eight try assists.<\/p>\n

His selection – replacing Valentine Holmes, who shifts to the wing – represents a massive gamble by Queensland. However, the potential pick was raised a month ago on Wide World of Sports<\/a> by Maroons icon Wally Lewis, with the simple philosophy: 'If you're good enough, you are old enough."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"It's a great opportunity, it's a great story. He's passed every test he's had to go through so far," Queensland coach Paul Green said.<\/p>\n

"Good players in the past have come up at that level around Origin, so I'm confident Reece will do that for us."<\/p>\n

Newcastle's superstar fullback Kalyn Ponga was again unavailable for selection due to injury, as was Titans No.1 AJ Brimson. Green said that while Walsh's selection was largely down to circumstance, he was impressed by the teenager.<\/p>\n

"I think once it sunk in, he was really just over the moon to get an opportunity to play for the Maroons," Green said.<\/p>\n

"He's certainly shown he's got the confidence. He's not afraid to back himself and a good trait in most good players is if they make a mistake, they can get themselves back in the game pretty quickly. He's been able to do that.<\/p>\n

"He's handled every step up so far, he's a confident kid, he's physical enough. I've got confidence that he'll get the job done."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Andrew McCullough won a surprise return at No.9, where he played three games for Queensland back in 2018. Storm hooker Harry Grant was ruled out with injury. McCullough's Dragons teammate Ben Hunt earned a recall at No.14.<\/p>\n

Cowboys prop Francis Molo is set to debut off the bench. North Queensland winger Kyle Feldt and Penrith's Kurt Capewell (centre) were retained despite tough outings in Origin I.<\/p>\n

Molo is a remarkable story, having almost walked away from rugby league after an on-field tragedy. In 2015, a player who Molo struck with a shoulder charge during a Queensland Cup game – James William Ackerman – died from a ruptured artery in his neck. Molo was left shattered but rebuilt his career.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"It's a great story. He's had his challenges, Frank, and a lot's been said about that," Green said.<\/p>\n

"But he's had different areas of his game that he's no doubt had to improve and he's worked hard at that over a long period of time. Really pleased to give someone an opportunity like Frank. Now, it's up to Frank."<\/p>\n

Canberra's Test prop Josh Papali'i is back in the side after missing Origin I through injury, while Coen Hess and Ronaldo Mulitalo were named as extended squad members.<\/p>\n

Green said that Queensland would need to do a better job containing Blues superstar Tom Trbojevic, who ran riot in Origin I with a try hat-trick.<\/p>\n

"We had a plan in game one, we just didn't execute it very well," Green said.<\/p>\n

"There's a few things we need to do and just try and limit his opportunities. I don't think you're going to completely stop a guy such as him, he's in terrific form, so it's about how we limit those opportunities."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Queensland Maroons squad<\/h2>\n

1. Reece Walsh – New Zealand Warriors<\/p>\n

2. Valentine Holmes – North Queensland Cowboys<\/p>\n

3. Kurt Capewell – Penrith Panthers<\/p>\n

4. Dane Gagai – South Sydney Rabbitohs<\/p>\n

5. Kyle Feldt – North Queensland Cowboys<\/p>\n

6. Cameron Munster – Melbourne Storm<\/p>\n

7. Daly Cherry-Evans – Manly Warringah Sea Eagles<\/p>\n

8. Christian Welch – Melbourne Storm<\/p>\n

9. Andrew McCullough – St George Illawarra Dragons<\/p>\n

10. Josh Papalii – Canberra Raiders<\/p>\n

11. Jai Arrow – South Sydney Rabbitohs<\/p>\n

12. Felise Kaufusi – Melbourne Storm<\/p>\n

13. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui – Gold Coast Titans<\/p>\n

14. Ben Hunt – St George Illawarra Dragons<\/p>\n

15. Moeaki Fotuaika – Gold Coast Titans<\/p>\n

16. David Fifita – Gold Coast Titans<\/p>\n

17. Francis Molo – North Queensland Cowboys<\/p>\n

18. Coen Hess – North Queensland Cowboys<\/p>\n

19. Ronaldo Mulitalo – Cronulla Sutherland Sharks<\/p>\n

Coach:<\/strong> Paul Green<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rookie Warriors superstar Reece Walsh has been confirmed as Queensland's new fullback for State of Origin II. Walsh, 18, will become the Maroons youngest player […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88266"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88266"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88268,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88266\/revisions\/88268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}