FORMER Maroons greats say this year’s Origin series will become a survival of the fittest with the historic November campaign to present the ultimate mental and physical test for NSW and Queensland players. The coronavirus pandemic has forced the NRL to restructure the 2020 season schedule with the Origin series to be shifted from its

QUEENSLAND skipper Daly Cherry-Evans is sweating on the future of State of Origin this season as the Maroons plot revenge following back-to-back series losses to the Blues. The coronavirus pandemic has not only thrown the NRL’s club season into disarray, it has cast a grey cloud over State of Origin, rugby league’s showpiece which turns

VALENTINE Holmes has issued an ominous warning to the Blues, admitting rugby league hasn't seen the best of him as the Queensland flyer looks to make a sizzling return to the Origin arena this season. After a 12-month absence from the game in his ultimately futile bid to win an NFL contract in America, Holmes

COWBOYS skipper Michael Morgan admits he is not a selection untouchable for the Maroons, saying North Queensland’s form this season will have a bearing on whether he is recalled to the Origin arena. Morgan has been a member of the Queensland set-up since 2015, having compiled 12 appearances from five consecutive campaigns and featuring in

QUEENSLAND coach Kevin Walters has urged Brodie Croft to use his lifeline from the Broncos to prove he can be the halfback to succeed Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans in the Origin arena. Croft’s omission from Queensland’s 33-man squad which gathered for a pre-season camp last month was evidence Walters wants to see the Dalby product

QUEENSLAND coach Kevin Walters has refused to guarantee Kalyn Ponga the No.1 jumper as he declared the race for the Maroons’ coveted fullback spot this season is wide open. Underscoring the greater depth of the Queensland set-up, Walters concedes the fullback position is one of the state’s most contentious areas with Ponga, Cameron Munster and

One of Queensland’s greatest fullbacks, Gary Belcher, admits he is excited about the prospect of Kalyn Ponga and Valentine Holmes duelling it out this season for the Maroons No.1 jersey. The dust had barely settled on the State of Origin career of the fullback ranked as perhaps the greatest of them all – the mercurial

MAROONS skipper Daly Cherry-Evans says the captaincy has taken him to another level as a player, and has only steeled his desire to help Queensland reclaim the Origin shield next season. Cherry-Evans was so composed and controlled in Manly’s 28-16 defeat of Cronulla in the opening week of the finals that NRL Immortal Andrew Johns

QUEENSLAND legend Billy Moore says David Fifita will be a 10-year Origin player and has backed the teenage wrecking-ball to help the Maroons stave off the threat of a New South Wales dynasty. Fifita made history this season when he became the first player born in the 2000s to play State of Origin after being

KEVIN Walters has declared he has unfinished business as the Queensland coach prepares to lead the Maroons to a new frontier when State of Origin makes its debut in South Australia next year. The NRL has released the playing schedule for 2020 State of Origin series with the famous Adelaide Oval to host an interstate