The Front Row: Don’t hold your breath for Origin call-up, DCE

NO Origin team is going to please everyone, ask Darius Boyd and Matt Scott — not to mention Daly Cherry-Evans, writes Mike Colman in a State of Origin edition of Colman’s Call.

Daly Cherry-Evans. Photo: Getty Images

NO Origin team is going to please everyone.

I’m just guessing, but I’m pretty sure Darius Boyd and Matt Scott would think the Maroons team for Game One could be a little better in a couple of positions.

No doubt Daly Cherry-Evans isn’t too fussed either. I read a while back that DCE is getting sick of watching Origin from his couch.

My advice would be that he starts watching it from the pub.

The show is the same but at least the alcohol won’t run out as quickly.

Manly’s Daly Cherry-Evans loses the ball in a tackle against the Raiders. Photo: Getty Images.

Probably the only selection that is being universally applauded right now (well, in Brisbane anyway) is Andrew McCullough at hooker.

Being a Queensland-born number nine for the past 12 years has been like being understudy to Mick Jagger. You’ve been waiting for him to have a sore throat since 1962.

Now that Cameron Smith has finally hung up the rep boots Macca gets his chance. He won’t have to be Jumping Jack Flash. Just a typical, workmanlike effort with about 50 tackles should suffice.

It will be up to Ben Hunt and Cameron Munster to do the fancy stuff.

Did Kevvie Walters really say that Hunt and Munster are “the future of the Maroons”?

Paul McGregor and Craig Bellamy will be hoping not. I seem to remember the same thing was said about Anthony Milford before Game 1 last year and look how well that turned out.

Seems to me that full-time on June 6 is about as far into the future that Kevvie should be looking. After that, anything can happen.

Remember this time last year? The same day that Milford was being measured up for his statue at Suncorp, the media was full of obituaries for the rep career of Billy Slater.

Kevvie was in tears as he spoke about how hard it had been to cut Billy adrift and hand the number one jersey to the man of the moment, Darius Boyd.

Two weeks later Billy was back in harness and Darius was in the centres.

Fast-forward to yesterday and Billy getting picked at fullback was the biggest certainty since Archer walked to Melbourne while Boyd and Matt Scott are the ones reading their career obits.

But you know what? I wouldn’t be surprised to see one, if not both of them, back in maroon before the end of this series.

It happened to Billy, why not them?

If Queensland wins Game 1, all this talk about Kevvie turning his back on the Maroons’ loyalty policy will be forgotten. He’ll be an Einstein in shorts. But if the forwards freeze like koalas in the headlights of a 4WD, or Valentine Holmes catches a bad case of butter-fingers, Boyd and Scott will bounce back like they’re on the end of a bungy-rope.

As for DCE? Well, I wouldn’t be getting rid of the couch just yet if I was him.

Originally published as The Front Row: Don’t hold your breath for Origin call-up, DCE