State of Origin begins tomorrow night, with Game One set to kick off at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
The NSW Blues will be hoping to begin their campaign to go back-to-back with a win, while the Queensland Maroons will be looking to reassert themselves on the Origin stage.
Maroons
The Maroons begin this year’s series with a home ground advantage at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. In the opening match last year, the Maroons dominated the Blues 38-10 in Sydney. They then lost in the series decider in Brisbane.
This is the third year with former Qld and Storm fullback Billy Slater coaching the side.
On paper, the Maroons are lacking their usual star power, missing Ben Hunt, Reece Walsh, and Selwyn Cobbo due to injury.
As a result, Robert Toia, Beau Fermor, and Trent Loiero are set to make their debuts on the notoriously physical State of Origin stage.
With just 10 NRL matches to his name, Toia will become the least experienced starting player in Origin history.
The Maroons' greatest asset may be Daly Cherry-Evans and Cameron Munster. Cherry-Evans and Munster are the second most experienced Origin halves pairing of all time, after Queensland legends Darren Lockyer and Johnathon Thurston.
Blues
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The Blues are looking to go back-to-back for the first time since 2019.
The biggest change for the side compared with last year has been in coaching personnel, with Laurie Daley returning to the role in place of Michael Maguire, who left the job for a full-time role at the Brisbane Broncos.
Daley’s previous tenure was for five series between 2013 and 2017. During that time, the Blues only won one series (in 2014), but it was significant as it ended an eight-year period of Queensland dominance.
The biggest challenge for NSW this year is juggling the dual star power of halves Nathan Cleary and Mitch Moses. Both players have played instrumental roles in leading NSW to victory in previous years, but they have never taken to the field together.
The Blues may also be hampered by injury tomorrow night, with centre Stephen Crichton having to pass a fitness test on Wednesday morning to play.
The series
The game is set to kick off at 8:05pm tomorrow night (AEST). It will be broadcast on Channel 9.
Game two is set to be played on neutral ground in Perth, and game three (which could be a series decider) is in Sydney.
