Matt Gillett in doubt for State of Origin 3
With Maroons veteran Matt Gillett facing a race against time to prove his fitness for this week’s Origin decider, Queensland selectors have turned to a premiership winner at 18th man.
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Former premiership winning Cowboy Ethan Lowe is set to be issued an SOS to make his Origin debut on Wednesday night’s decider as Maroons veteran Matt Gillett races against the clock to overcome a groin injury.
It comes after Queensland revealed their highest-capped player pulled up sore from a training session last week, leaving the door open for 28-year-old Lowe to take on NSW in the biggest game of the year.
Gillett left the field during Friday’s session after experiencing soreness and has until Tuesday to prove his fitness at Queensland’s captain’s run. He has undergone scans and is currently receiving treatment.
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“We will continue to provide treatment and assess his progress to give him every opportunity to play,” Queensland doctor Matt Hislop said.
Lowe was named 18th man this week and will be called upon to fill Gillett’s back row position if the 30-year-old fails to recover in time.
The Goondiwindi junior played 109 NRL games for North Queensland including their 2015 triumph over Brisbane before signing with South Sydney earlier this year and already has a firm backer in Queensland selector Darren Lockyer.
Lockyer is eager to see Gillett return but insists Lowe’s experience will help him handle the furnace of an Origin decider if required.
“(Gillett) is a quality player and experienced player as well,” Lockyer said.
“If Ethan has to play, well Ethan won a grand final, so I don’t think he’d be overawed by it.
“Gillo is aggressive off the defensive line and we need a bit of that on Wednesday.”
Gillett’s tackling prowess in this series hasn’t gone unnoticed with teammate Ben Hunt a keen observer.
“He brings a lot of energy to everything he does but especially defensively, he’s always flying up and doing his part,” Hunt said of Gillett.
“He always gets 40-odd tackles for a backrower so he’s doing a lot of work too.”
Fellow forward Felise Kaufusi is confident his back row partner will prove his fitness but concedes his experience would be missed.
“He’s one of our most senior players so losing that would be a big loss,” Kaufusi said.
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