Maroons coach Billy Slater is set to announce his squad for Origin Game I in under three weeks and one Queensland legend has thrown his support behind two players fighting for backline spots.
Gorden Tallis believes Kalyn Ponga and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow should be selected to start for Queensland on May 31st when they take on New South Wales in Game I at the Adelaide Oval.
Two of the most debated position battles for the Maroons this year is fullback and wing, with Selwyn Cobbo on the right flank the only certainty.
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But who will line up on the other side of Cobbo? Tabuai-Fidow, Xavier Coates and Murray Taulagi are the hopes. Corey Oates would be in the thick of discussions but is sidelined with a knee injury.
Tabuai-Fidow has been in electrifying form for the Dolphins, scoring nine tries (tied for third in the league) and averaging 132 metres per game.
When Tallis was asked if ‘Hammer’ deserved a spot, his answer was emphatic.
“Absolutely,” Tallis told foxsports.com.au.
“He’s been one of the most improved players in the competition.
“Like Reece Walsh has this season, Tabuai-Fidow has taken his game to a whole new level.
“You can’t coach speed in our game, there’s a lot of things you can, but you can’t speed and he has a lot of it.”
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Tabuai-Fidow was picked to make his Origin debut as a 19-year-old in 2021, scoring a try as Queensland won to stop a NSW clean sweep.
Ponga is much more battle-fit in the Origin arena, having represented his state seven times.
While he’s seldom let Queensland down and is the incumbent fullback, the knock is that Ponga has again had to deal with troubling concussion problems this season, missing five games.
Additionally, his form at five-eighth since returning for the Knights has been patchy to say the least.
All the while, Brisbane livewire Reece Walsh has put together a brilliant first third of the season for the top-of-the-table Broncos.
On face value this season, Walsh would nearly be a walk-in starter, however Queensland is known for their fierce loyalty, especially incumbents who were apart of a winning series.
Because of this loyalty, Tallis thinks it’s pretty clear who should don the Maroons no.1.
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“It’ll be Ponga,” Tallis said.
“He won the series for them last year and starred in the decider.”
“I think that Queensland has been really loyal over the years and the incumbents get an edge at selection time.
“The last time he (Ponga) wore the jersey he was man of the match and outstanding for Queensland.”
Outstanding might even be underselling Ponga’s Game III performance last year.
The 25-year-old finished with a try, 226 run metres, 16 tackle busts, four offloads and two linebreaks as the Maroons pulled off one of the greatest Origin upsets ever.
