Billy Slater will miss up to 6 weeks thanks to knee injury

QUEENSLAND fullback Billy Slater will miss up to six weeks through injury, ruling him out of the State of Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium.

QUEENSLAND fullback Billy Slater will miss up to six weeks through injury, ruling him out of the State of Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium.

Slater tweeted the results of his scans last night.

"Hi All, scans showed I've done my PCL in my knee. Looking at missing 4-6 weeks. Disappointed but I'm positive about getting it right. Thanks," Slater tweeted.

But the news is hardly good for NSW, with Greg Inglis to be shuffled into the No.1 jersey, Darius Boyd switched from the wing or Bulldogs excitement machine Ben Barba elevated to the Maroons Origin team.

Shifting Inglis to fullback and recalling Melbourne's Dane Nielsen to left centre appears the most likely of three possible scenarios facing coach Mal Meninga as the Maroons regroup.

Other options include giving Darius Boyd the opportunity to reprise his Four Nations heroics when he led Australia superbly after Slater's broken collarbone, or promoting rookie Barba for an Origin debut for the decider.

Queensland chairman of selectors Des Morris said Maroons officials were not panicked about the potential loss of Slater and would not discuss selection issues until next week. "We were beaten by four, not 40," Morris said. "We will let the dust settle a bit before we analyse anything, really it's just a matter of executing better."

Slater emerged from the Queensland team hotel yesterday with a slight limp and his knee in a compression bandage, the result of a suspected posterior cruciate ligament injury.

He had spent most of the night icing his leg following Queensland's 16-12 loss to NSW and will be sent for an MRI scan when he returns to Melbourne this afternoon.

Some posterior cruciate ligament injuries can take up to six weeks to heal, but players have been known to soldier on with the injury if it is not too serious or debilitating.

Also yesterday, Cooper 'Shonk' Cronk defended the illegal tackle he made on Todd Carney that led to his sin-binning in the second half.

Unsurprisingly, coach Mal Meninga and Cronk's Maroons teammates all supported the halfback's unsportsmanlike play.

"Origin is about fighting for every inch," Cronk said. The disappointing thing is they scored some tries while I was having a 10-minute break."

Also yesterday, Corey Parker has had successful surgery on his deep leg wound and is hopeful of recovering for the decider.

"I'm a quick healer," he said.

Follow @Telegraph_Sport on Twitter and like Telegraph Sport on Facebook