Qld Maroons team: How we know selectors got it right

In order to judge whether the Queensland State of Origin selectors got it right, you have to ask one simple question, writes Robert “Crash” Craddock.

In order to judge whether the Queensland State of Origin selectors got it right, you have to ask one simple question.

Name one unlucky omission.

Coen Hess was injured, Anthony Milford has been patchy, Gavin Cooper is getting on and Jarrod Wallace has been nothing more than so-so for the Titans.

And then? No one.

There is no heartbreak kid, which means the panel pretty much hit the bullseye.

The choice of Daly Cherry-Evans as captain is contentious, and time will be the judge of that.

There was no love for him from the old brigade when he first played Origin football but he is 30 now and a senior statesman of the game, older and wiser than he was.

Queensland State of Origin coach Kevin Walters (left) and Cameron Munster before today’s media conference in Brisbane. Picture: Darren England/AAP

The side has a bit of everything as successful Origin sides must.

The youth of Joe Ofahengaue and David Fifita, the brilliance of Kalyn Ponga, the fire of Dylan Napa, the hard-headedness of Josh McGuire and the raw competitiveness of Cameron Munster.

Ben Hunt is a gamble at hooker but he is an experienced player in the prime of his career and worthy of a dice roll.

It is not one of Queensland’s best sides on paper.

There is no Smith, Cronk, Thurston or Slater but, with the champions gone, there is hope a new generation of stars will rise.

NSW are rightly favourites, shunting Queensland back to underdog status where they always like to be.

The more they are told they won’t win the better chance they become.

Bring it on.