The Walker selection is an admission from the selectors that they got it wrong in the first game. They wanted Walker in the team, but just couldn't bring themselves to pick him after all Keary had achieved in the past couple of years. Had the series taken place mid-season, it would have been the right choice, but after the Roosters last three efforts it was clear that Walker was the better candidate. It will be interesting to see how Walker plays. He's shown he can come on and look likely when he doesn't have the pressure of building a game, but last year he really struggled to make an impact to the point where Fittler spectacularly dragged him off the field mid-way through the game. With this squad and the style they play, I honestly wonder if they'd be better off picking Wighton there and picking Crichton in the centres.
This is the last throw of the dice for Payne Haas. He's one of those players where you look at his numbers in Origin and they're not bad, but then you watch the game and you see how little influence he actually has. He may have been picked ahead of his time and may need a couple of series away just to get himself right ala Matt Scott. Still, I like the decision from Fittler. He clearly wasn't making much of an impact coming off the bench and the starting role should suit him better.
The bench should be an automatic improvement for the Blues considering they lost Murray very early on, but the balance seems out of whack. Finucane and Brown together seem like an odd combination, I would have thought if any forward was to come in it would be RCG who typically played well coming off the bench.
The Maroons it's a piece of good news and bad news. Without a doubt, AJ Brimson is a loss for the Maroons and while Bennett has made the right choice with Holmes, it's a gamble. Val had a very disappointing season at the Cowboys and while there were some positive signs, there was never a strong run of form. Bennett will be hoping we see 2018 Val, but it's such a shame they lost Brimson.
Welch is also a loss for the Maroons. He is just so strong through the middle doing the little things and making it count. Lui is a curious selection, but Bennett is obviously going in with the Raiders mentality and hoping that Lui can continue his strong form from the end of the season into this game.
The Hess experiment is over. It's a shame for the Maroons that he couldn't take his opportunity because they really needed somebody of his ilk on that edge. Su'A was the better choice and it's best that they just moved on instead of sticking to a winning team. Fotuaika off the bench is the right call and I think he could prove to be the best coup of the entire series. Which would be amazing considering the Blues had a two-time premiership winning five eighth as his competition.
Going into Game 1 I was confident the Blues would win, but still gave Queensland more hope than a lot of others were willing to give. I give Queensland less hope here but after Game 1, I could see the Blues potentially beating themselves again. If the Maroons can keep the game tight and put the Blues under pressure than they can win this game.
If not, we're off to Suncorp in the one game Queensland stood the most chance of winning before the series started.
