State of Origin 2017: Darren Lockyer denies Kevin Walters was ‘rolled’ by Maroons selectors

MAROONS selector Darren Lockyer has rubbished claims coach Kevin Walters was “rolled” as the real reason for Billy Slater’s Origin omission emerged.

Slater’s omission was painful for Kevin Walters. Photo: Liam Kidston.

MAROONS selector Darren Lockyer has rubbished claims coach Kevin Walters was “rolled” at the selection table as the real reason for Billy Slater’s shock Origin omission emerged.

Queensland’s build-up for Origin I was buffeted by speculation Walters was sensationally overruled by selectors Gene Miles and Lockyer over Queensland’s fullback for the series opener.

Walters choked back tears as he discussed Slater losing out to Darius Boyd on Monday — sparking rumours the Maroons coach was emotional because he wanted the Storm ace as his fullback.

But Lockyer broke his silence on Queensland’s toughest selection call in almost 20 years, saying the three-man panel’s verdict on the Boyd-Slater debate was unanimous.

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Slater’s omission was painful for Kevin Walters. Photo: Liam Kidston.

“Kevvie wasn’t rolled, that is off the mark,” Lockyer said. “All three of us were aligned on that decision.

“We all have accommodating personalities and we all work together.

“Gene and myself are there as a sounding board to talk about some of the selections that Kevvie might not be 100 per cent settled on.”

Queensland selectors have come under fire for snubbing Slater, but The Courier-Mail has uncovered why the man considered the code’s greatest fullback was overlooked.

Statistics played a key role in Boyd retaining the Queensland No.1 jumper. While Boyd’s incumbency was a natural consideration, Slater’s error-rate and missed-tackle count this season were alarming components.

In nine games this season, Slater has missed 21 tackles, compared with Boyd’s five from 11 matches.

In essence, Slater has missed four times as many tackles as Boyd this season. Some of the misses in video analysis were attributed to technical flaws as Slater, perhaps unwittingly, moved to protect his reconstructed shoulder.

Queensland selectors were also mindful of Boyd’s low mistake-rate. The Broncos skipper has made just four errors this season. Slater has registered 11 — almost three times as many errors as his Maroons rival.

In the Origin arena, where even the slightest mistake is magnified and can have brutal consequences, Boyd was deemed the safer option.

Selectors were won over by Boyd’s lack of errors. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Miles, Queensland’s chairman of selectors, said Boyd’s reliability, on the back of his Ron McAuliffe Medal-winning heroics last year, sealed the deal.

“Darius makes zero mistakes,” Miles said.

“He makes a lot of right calls. The fact he was the incumbent and didn’t make any dumb errors which can make or break you in Origin games ... that basically got him across the line

“We talked about it for a number of weeks.

“The discussion went this way and that way and as superb as Billy is — he’s the best fullback I’ve seen — Darius had done nothing wrong and deserved to keep the spot.”