State of Origin 2024: Paul Vautin unhappy with Selwyn Cobbo’s being selected on the bench

Queensland coach Billy Slater has taken a selection gamble by picking Selwyn Cobbo on the bench and Maroons great Paul Vautin isn’t happy about it.

(L-R) Paul Vautin and Selwyn Cobbo.

Queensland bench weapon Selwyn Cobbo is ready for an engine room Origin baptism as Maroons great Paul Vautin questioned the Broncos back’s selection and labelled the Blues Game One favourites.

Cobbo will return to the Origin arena from the unfamiliar interchange bench in Wednesday night’s series-opener in Sydney.

Queensland coach Billy Slater threw a selection curveball when he named just two forwards – Moeaki Fotuaika and debutant J’maine Hopgood – on his bench for the Accor Stadium showdown.

With dummy-half dynamo Harry Grant in jersey No. 14, Slater has sacrificed a third forward in favour of Cobbo to provide backline cover following a trend of injuries in recent Origin clashes.

In contrast, Blues coach Michael Maguire has named a four-forward bench packed with punch and mobility in Isaah Yeo, Haumole Olakau’atu, Spencer Leniu and Hudson Young.

How Cobbo gets into the contest if there isn’t a backline injury remains to be seen, but the explosive Brisbane ballrunner said he was prepared to play in the middle of the field with the big boys.

Selwyn Cobbo has been named on the bench for Origin I. Picture: Liam Kidston

“I don’t know (where I’ll be playing) yet. Wherever Billy plays me I will do the team and my state proud,” Cobbo said.

“He said that I would be coming off the bench and to go out there and have fun.

“If they need me in the middle I guess I will try my best. If Billy wants me there I will play in the middle.

“I played lock growing up and it is something I am not afraid of. (I like) being in the middle and around the action. There’s a lot of ball and that’s why I loved playing lock growing up.”

Cobbo’s bench selection following 60 NRL games in the backline has been viewed as left-field, but could prove to be a masterstroke if the Maroons lose one of their back five early in the match.

But it’s a risk not worth taking according to “Fatty” Vautin, the mastermind of one of Queensland’s most memorable Origin series victories in the 1995 clean sweep.

“I’m not happy with the bench. I don’t understand why we’ve picked a winger-centre on the bench. I think we’re lacking another big forward,” Vautin told 4BC.

“I don’t know who’s around, but one that comes to mind is Corey Jensen (Broncos prop). Felise Kaufusi is number 18 and I would have had him on the bench rather than Selwyn.

Former Queensland coach Paul “Fatty” Vautin isn’t happy with the Cobbo selection. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“I’m not a selector, I’m never going to be a selector but I’m also entitled to my own opinion. Forwards win Origin games. They do all the hard work.

“I just don’t know how they’re going to get Selwyn into the game barring an injury, which we don’t want.

“It’s a bit like NSW last year, they picked Nicho Hynes on the bench as a utility (in Game One). He’s a guy who played fullback and halfback and they put him on with 10 minutes to go in the centres. It looked like he didn’t even know where the centres were.

“We ran around him, scored a try and he got hammered for that, and so did ‘Freddy’ (former Blues coach Brad Fittler). The same could happen to Selwyn. I know he’s a big body but I think we’re one forward short on the bench.

“I love the NSW bench. Yeo, Olakau’atu, Leniu, Young … That’s a really strong forwards bench.

“We are up against it. I’m not going to tip NSW ever, but I’m surprised they’re the outsiders.”

Chasing his third straight series win, Slater defended his surprise selection of Cobbo on the bench on the back of the Maroons losing a backline player in four of the six Origin games he’s coached.

“Certainly he is there for a bit of cover but at the same time Selwyn can play various positions,” he said.

“I might even create one for him, who knows. We will plan that as the week goes on, but he is a wonderful player and we have only scratched the surface of what he can do.”

Asked if the Maroons are a forward short, five-eighth Tom Dearden said: “Billy will have a plan for how that is going to work.

“All of the players have trust in Billy and the coaching staff. We haven’t spoken about how that (Cobbo being used) will work yet, but I’m confident we will get our preparation right.”