Phil Gould predicts Queensland coach Billy Slater will pull an 11th-hour selection switch

NSW’s greatest coach Phil Gould has lobbed a grenade at Queensland’s besieged forward pack, predicting an under pressure Billy Slater will pull an 11th-hour selection switch.

NSW’s greatest coach Phil Gould has lobbed a grenade at Queensland’s besieged forward pack and believes Maroons debutant Kurt Mann will be a shock starter in Origin II on Wednesday night.

Gould has warned the Blues to be on red alert for Billy Slater’s mind games, claiming the Queensland coach will pull a late selection switch by starting Mann at hooker ahead of Harry Grant in Perth.

Grant has a dismal record as Queensland’s first-choice hooker, losing all four games when he has started in the Maroons’ No.9 jumper - including their 18-6 defeat in the series opener at Suncorp Stadium.

Now Gould suggests Mann, who will debut at age 32 after flourishing under the ‘Gus’ Gould-Cameron Ciraldo football program at the Bulldogs, shapes as the X-factor to shake-up an insipid Maroons pack.

Bulldogs ironman Mann has been named on interchange but Gould is bracing for the Winton warrior to absorb the early ferocity of Game Two, freeing up Grant to be a dummy-half super sub.

“I fully suspect Harry Grant won’t start the game,” said Channel 9 analyst and Bulldogs football boss Gould, who won a record six of eight Origin series for NSW.

“It could happen. They have made some changes. They have put Carrigan back to the bench and I think Kurt Mann will (start).

Harry Grant. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“They will try to get on the front foot early.

“Their forwards have to aim up and that will be the whole focus of their week surely ... to give (Cameron) Munster and (Tom) Dearden (new Queensland halves) a platform on which to play.”

Grant has a brilliant record off the bench for Queensland.

The 27-year-old has won six of eight Origin games off the pine, including his superb debut when he crashed over from dummy-half to score the second-half try that sealed a 20-14 victory for Queensland in the 2020 decider.

The Maroons ramped-up preparations with a training run in Perth and the Sunday session is traditionally the day when Queensland flick the switch of intensity for Origin battle.

“We are one to 13 at training so far,” Grant said amid Gould’s talk of a possible switch.

“I haven’t spoken to Billy about that plan (Mann starting) and whether the change will happen.

“The one thing I know with our team is it’s very flexible.”

Asked about his poor 0-4 record as an Origin starter, the Maroons rake said: “Each game is different. I can take a bit of experience from being on the bench and starting. All four games have been different teams and circumstances, so I can’t reflect too much on that.”

Grant had an off night in the 2025 series opener, missing five tackles. He made several poor tactical decisions, including a dummy-half snipe that led to a turnover, and says he will play with more maturity in the return bout to save the series at Optus Stadium.

“I was disappointed in certain parts of the game I’d love to have back,” Grant said.

“I’m not happy or content with it but I can’t change it.

“That’s part of it when you’re in the game (at hooker).

“You’re touching the ball first and have to make the decisions quickly.

“I had a few decisions I’d like to change but we need to do a better job of taking the game plan from training to the field in this game.”

Queensland were badly beaten in the midfield at Suncorp Stadium - they made 326 fewer meters than the Blues - and Gould says Slater has panicked by axing his captain Cherry-Evans.

The two-time premiership coach says Cherry-Evans’ halfback successor, Dearden, could be badly exposed if Queensland’s forwards fail to muscle up again.

“NSW completely controlled them (in Game One) and I don’t know that Tom Dearden can turn that around on his own, no matter how well he plays,” Gould said.

“They lost the battle in the middle and the halves were a victim of that.

“I don’t think Johnathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk could have performed behind that forward pack the way it went.

“They are now thrusting Tom Dearden into this situation without improving what the real problem was in Game One.

Kurt Mann could be shifted in to the starting side. Picture: QRL

“If Tom Dearden as a rookie comes in behind a beaten forward pack, if they get monstered the same way, then Dearden can’t help them and what does that do to his development and confidence at this level?

“If the ship was going to go down, they had to take the captain (Cherry-Evans) down with them.”

Mann rubbished suggestions Queensland lack forward mongrel and says he is ready to lift the Maroons in any role, including a possible start at hooker.

“I’ve started in every position except front row, so I’ll do whatever Queensland need me to do,” he said.

“I definitely think we have the firepower, 100 per cent.

“I don’t think we could have played too much worse to be honest and still be in the fight with 10 minutes to go considering what we did to ourselves in the first half with our errors and ill-discipline.

“We just have to focus on ourselves, it’s more about us and our plan of attack.”

Originally published as Phil Gould predicts Queensland coach Billy Slater will pull an 11th-hour selection switch