Holmes is on the wing and Corey Horsburgh earns a debut on the back of a strong 2019 season with the Raiders. Get your 14 day free trial >, Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. “Wayne has the necessary experience and he knows what it takes to win big games at representative level, for both state and country.”. The Maroons will be desperate to stop the Blues making it three straight Origin series victories in 2020. The Blues on the other hand have so far announced six players in their squad. The experts have chosen their North Queensland rugby league A grade Team of the Decade and now heres NQs dream team as decided by the readers. The Blues appear to be flying in regards to depth of playing stocks, while the Maroons are looking thin on the ground. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. Ricky’s response to ref feud; Kevvie cleans out Broncos, The ‘hobbling’ star who personifies Sharks’ woes, Kent reveals why Klemmer was snubbed by Blues, Legend says Kalyn Ponga is at career crossroads, The 22-year omen that bodes well for under-seige Eels, Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. This is also known as Online Behavioural Advertising. The forward pack is in desperate need of a boost while the backline is equally thin on star power. The biggest Aussie sports and the best from overseas. Hunt is the incumbent and was one of their best players last year when wearing the No.9, but Friend is overdue a run in the team and young stars Grant and Mahoney are pushing to inherit Smith’s famous strip. Wighton played in the centres last year and was solid, and is a certainty to be in the starting side for game one but he would relish a role in the halves. The 2020 State of Origin teams will begin to filter in over the coming weeks ahead of Origin 1 in early November. It shows why coach Brad Fittler had the luxury of leaving the likes of David Klemmer and Wade Graham off the list. Despite the Cameron Smith return scuttlebutt, the Maroons boast a choice of Harry Grant, Jake Friend, Ben Hunt, and Reed Mahoney when it comes to choosing the starting rake. Tom Trbojevic’s injury withdrawal has opened a spot in the backline and young Penrith gun Stephen Crichton is honing in on an Origin debut with some impressive finals form. Grab your Finals Pass to start streaming >. Gutherson could equally come off the bench and he could be fighting with Melbourne superstar Ryan Papenhuyzen for that right. With Klemmer and Graham omitted there’s spots in the forward pack up for grabs and there’s a plethora of contenders with Junior Paulo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, James Tamou, Dale Finucane, Liam Martin, Nathan Brown, Ryan Matterson, Cameron Murray, and Isaah Yeo all using this finals series as an audition for Fittler. Now it seems the contenders are Arrow, Mo Fotuaika and Christian Welch. The other advantage NSW have is their players are playing deep into finals, meaning their match fitness will be up to scratch by the time Origin I rolls around 10 days after the grand final. Edrick Lee, Phillip Sami, Xavier Coates, Brenko Lee, and Corey Allan are the rookies in with a shot of winning a spot in the backline. Luke Keary looks certain to win his debut jumper but he has Jack Wighton fighting him for the starting No.6 role. No lock-in contract. Last year it was Jai Arrow, then Dylan Napa, then Joe Ofahengaue who started at prop for Queensland in the three games. As he prepares to return to the Origin arena 17 years after leading the Maroons last in 2003, Bennett was privileged to receive the opportunity to step up and help out Queensland during their challenging times. Bennett is set to come against Blues coach Brad Fittler, who has already admitted that he is 'nervous' about the potential face-to-face with the former Kangaroos boss. Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites. “Well I’m nervous about when we do our press conferences and when we do the face-to-face photo that I’ve done with Kevvie a few times, I think that’s going to be a little bit odd,” Fittler told  Wide World of Sports Radio. But we count 28 players still involved in NRL finals that are in contention for a call-up. Cody Walker is the smoky for that position and so it’s an intense three-way battle to win the right to partner Nathan Cleary. Christian Welch is stiff to miss out but he’s currently recovering from a knee reconstruction. Sign up now >, JIMMY BRINGS: Ricky’s response to ref feud; Kevvie cleans out Broncos, SAD DECLINE: The ‘hobbling’ star who personifies Sharks’ woes, ‘LIKE A SOUR TART’: Kent reveals why Klemmer was snubbed by Blues, The squad so far: Payne Haas, Jake Trbojevic, Tyson Frizell, Zac Lomax, Cameron McInnes, Daniel Saifiti, Contenders still playing: Josh Addo-Carr, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Dale Finucane, Blake Ferguson, Clint Gutherson, Junior Paulo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Nathan Brown, Ryan Matterson, Adam Reynolds, Campbell Graham, Cody Walker, Cameron Murray, Damien Cook, Daniel Tupou, James Tedesco, Luke Keary, Angus Crichton, Boyd Cordner, Jack Wighton, Nick Cotric, Nathan Cleary, Stephen Crichton, Api Koroisau, Isaah Yeo, James Tamou, Liam Martin, Moses Leota, Left out (not injured): David Klemmer, Wade Graham, Paul Vaughan, Tariq Sims, Mitchell Pearce, Locks: James Tedesco (fullback), Nathan Cleary (halfback), Jack Wighton (centre/five-eighth), Josh Addo-Carr (wing), Cameron Murray (forward pack/bench), Boyd Cordner (second row), Payne Haas (prop/bench), Jake Trbojevic (lock/prop). “But apart from that, no, not really. By the calculations of foxsports.com.au, interim Queensland coach Wayne Bennett will even struggle to fill the 27-man squad he’s allowed to take into camp for the November series. That would leave AJ Brimson as the prime candidate for game one, while Cameron Munster could fill the role but then they would need to fill the No.6 jumper with the likes of Ben Hunt or Corey Norman. Grab your finals pass now! I think the players that we have at the moment, the camaraderie that we have and the feeling we have in amongst NSW and the reasons why we play are going to be strong enough.”, https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/sportal_com_au/bc/6/wayne-bennett_10d9ve81lvjpc1ps7w8fd6klbw.jpg?t=1173264031&w=500&quality=80, Kevin Walters was formally announced as Broncos coach, V'landys set to investigate Burgess allegations, who has already admitted that he is 'nervous' about the potential face-to-face. The fullback spot is also up in the air given Kalyn Ponga may yet withdraw from the squad in order to have surgery on his shoulder. Just $25/month. No lock-in contract. There's an intriguing battle for the No.9 jumper with a surprising number of quality hookers vying for the position this year. Stream the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership finals series live & on-demand from overseas on Watch NRL. “Our people involved in the process to appoint the new coach all viewed Wayne as the right person when we took into consideration the unique circumstances we are now faced with,” Moore said. With nine rookies in the preliminary squad it appears supercoach Bennett is planning to blood plenty of young talent into the Maroons ranks this year. This is also known as Online Behavioural Advertising. In fact Dane Gagai is the only guaranteed selection and he will likely start on the wing, if not centre. Overseas? Stream the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership finals series live & on-demand from overseas on Watch NRL. Penrith's Stephen Crichton could make his Origin debut for NSW. State of Origin means so much to the people of Queensland.