Maroon spirit to lift out of form stars for State of Origin series opener

QUEENSLAND'S stars will rely upon the "special" Maroon environment to lift them out of form slumps and overcome injury concerns ahead of Origin I.

QUEENSLAND'S stars will rely upon the "special" Maroon environment to lift them out of form slumps and overcome injury concerns ahead of the series opener next week.

As coach Mal Meninga prepares to officially name his Origin I team tomorrow night, the form of several key players remains a concern.

More than half of the Maroons team will come from Queensland clubs the Cowboys, Broncos and Titans, who have struggled for consistency this season.

The Cowboys are riding a three-game losing streak, with Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott and Brent Tate increasingly frustrated at the poor results from a team touted as premiership contenders.

Brisbane's quartet of Justin Hodges, Corey Parker, Sam Thaiday and Matt Gillett are individually playing well, but their team has produced inconsistent results.

Titans duo Nate Myles and Ashley Harrison have experienced some tough recent losses while Melbourne's star trio Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith have experienced a frustrating past month at the Storm.

Scott said he would "like to think" that club form would not be an issue for Queensland, but admitted it was one area where NSW had no such concerns.

"The flip side of that is NSW has got some players in great form at the moment. That is a worry for us," he said.

"But hopefully the team gets into camp, the team has been around for a long time now and are very used to each other.

"There is a special sort of environment in those Origin camps.

"Hopefully that (club form) doesn't affect us too much."

Crucially for Meninga, several players are either playing through injury or are only a few games on the comeback trail from weeks out of the game.

Myles (groin) and Harrison (knee) are playing through serious complaints, Hodges (ribs) has played just two of the last four NRL games due to injury and Raiders prop David Shillington is three games back from his own rib issue.

Only South Sydney pair Greg Inglis and Ben Te'o, plus Sydney Roosters bolter Martin Kennedy, could be entirely happy with their past month of football.

One thing is certain, Meninga will ensure club issues are quickly forgotten when the Maroon family reunite in Brisbane tomorrow to prepare for an eighth straight series win.

The Blues will name their team today, with the biggest talking point the decision to axe Todd Carney in favour of James Maloney.

The Blues have not begun an Origin series with the same halves combination since 2000 and 2001 when Brett Kimmorley and Brad Fittler were in charge.

NSW have never won a game with a five-eighth on debut while over the past seven years, the Maroons have used just four halves - Cooper Cronk, Darren Lockyer, Scott Prince and Johnathan Thurston.