Maroons and Blues expected to wait until after King’s Birthday weekend games to name teams

Queensland coach Billy Slater will delay naming his side for the second State of Origin game in a move which could signal the end of Daly Cherry-Evans’ Origin career.

Daly Cherry-Evans has 80 minutes to save his State of Origin career after Queensland coach Billy Slater refused to guarantee the Maroons skipper would be spared the axe.

Slater will resist waiting until the completion of this weekend’s round 14 NRL fixtures to name his squad for Origin II in Perth on June 18.

The NRL has granted the Blues and Maroons, who requested an extension, permission to delay naming their teams until the completion of Monday afternoon’s King’s Birthday clash between the Bulldogs and Eels.

But Slater will forgo that and has planned to name a Queensland squad on Monday morning from Camp Maroon on the Sunshine Coast.

Bulldogs utility Kurt Mann, 18th man for Origin I, is expected to retain his position in the Maroons squad, with Eels forward J’Maine Hopgood likely to miss out.

Blues coach Laurie Daley is expected to wait until Monday night to name his squad given NSW Game One players Max King, Stephen Crichton, Zac Lomax and Mitchell Moses will feature in the Bulldogs-Eels game.

Slater is expected to make changes after the Maroons were comprehensively outplayed in an 18-6 loss to the Blues at Suncorp Stadium in last week’s series-opener.

Daly Cherry-Evans (L) is in danger of losing his spot in the Maroons with Kurt Mann (R) firming for the utility role.

The future of Cherry-Evans is the biggest talking point, with the 26-game Queensland veteran in danger of being dropped after the Maroons suffered back-to-back defeats in Brisbane for the first time in 27 years.

Cowboys playmaker Tom Dearden will replace Cherry-Evans in the No. 7 jersey if Slater calls time on one of Queensland’s greatest Origin careers.

It would be a bombshell decision to drop Manly legend ‘DCE’ given he is Queensland’s skipper, but Slater did little to quash speculation when asked about Cherry-Evans’ position on Channel 9.

Cherry-Evans, 36, blitzed the Broncos last Saturday and will have one final audition to retain his jersey when the Sea Eagles face the Knights in Newcastle on Thursday.

“It was great to see Tommy and ‘Chez’ go back to their clubs and play well,” Slater said.

Tom Dearden will likely be the man to replace Cherry-Evans if Billy Slater decides to make a change at halfback. Picture: QRL

“I don’t point the finger at any one player. You’ve got to sit down and take your time after each game. You review the game and performance.

“Given our performance in game one – something needs to change.

“It doesn’t have to be personnel, but it might be an attitude shift, actions on the field or continuity within the group.

“I’m a believer in that if you do the same thing and expect a different result then you’re pretty silly.

“Whether that’s personnel change or we shift our mindset going into the game, I’m not sure yet.”

The Maroons were on the back foot from the opening exchanges in Origin I and only scored after Jeremiah Nanai forced an error on Latrell Mitchell with a bone-jarring tackle.

Queensland’s pop gun forwards have come under scrutiny with the likes of Moeaki Fotuaika, Reuben Cotter and Trent Loiero in the firing line, while Titans ironman Beau Fermor only received 16 minutes on debut.

Canberra’s Corey Horsburgh and reliable Rabbitoh Jai Arrow were unlucky to miss Game One and Broncos flyer Selwyn Cobbo is another option to combat NSW’s dominant back five ball-carrying weapons.

Queensland legend Cameron Smith said Blues wingers Brian To’o and Zac Lomax dominated the Maroons, who had to fix their ill-discipline and lack of intensity.

“NSW have an aggressive back five – that was the part of their team I was most threatened by,” said Smith, Origin’s most capped-player (42 games).

“Brian To’o spent 10 minutes off the field (sin bin) and ran for 230m. Zac Lomax ran for 210m. They’ve nearly got 500m between the two of them.

“The key is the start has to be much improved. There’s no doubt Queensland got it really wrong early, particularly with discipline and turning the ball over.

“You can get away with it at club level, we’ve seen momentum shifts and changes, but when you’re playing against elite players, they won’t give you another chance.

“If you start as poorly as the Maroons did in the first 10 minutes then you’re playing on the back foot all night.

“That’s why they had very little energy to play any sort of attacking football. They were carting the ball off their tryline all night.

“They need to look at their approach to the first 10 minutes, attitude and what sort of mentality they’re going to have.”

If Slater thinks Queensland’s attitude is what needs addressing the most then Cherry-Evans might get one more chance to extend his Origin career.

But the Maroons coach hardly gave his skipper a ringing endorsement when asked about Cherry-Evans’ Origin future.

Originally published as Maroons and Blues expected to wait until after King’s Birthday weekend games to name teams