No Walsh as Slater gambles for Origin

Queensland coach Billy Slater has again left Indigenous star Reece Walsh out of his State of Origin plans for the series opener in Sydney next week,

The decision has been shaped by the fullback’s uneven form and the coach’s preference for a different balance across his backline.

Ezra Mam and Selwyn Cobbo are in the squad though, along with Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow for the game on May 27.

Key Points

Slater took a major risk when he handed a 20-year-old Reece Walsh his State of Origin debut in 2023. That year, Walsh and his team of baby Broncos soared within minutes of a premiership, pipped only by an otherworldly performance from Nathan Cleary.

Key factors shaping Walsh’s omission

The following season, the team was bad enough to warrant coach Kevin Walters copping the axe five days before the first anniversary of that game. Another year later, Walsh became perhaps the only man to put on a better grand final outing than Cleary as he powered Brisbane to a stunning premiership. He followed it up by blitzing England in the Ashes as a confident Walsh in full flight became, for a time, the best player in rugby league.

Coach Billy Slater leaves Reece Walsh out of Queensland’s Origin I squad.

But injuries and a loss of form last and this season has seen Walsh struggle, playing only eight games in Brisbane’s 5-6 opening and his 19 errors have him tied for the second most in the league.

In the halves with Tom Dearden injured, Slater has turned to Sydney Roosters’ Sam Walker to parner Cameron Munster.

The Maroons have stuck solid with 11 players who won the Origin decider last year in the historic 24-12 triumph in Sydney, while naming six debutants in a 20-man squad to contest the Origin series opener.

Under six-player benches — now standard in the NRL — the calculus extends beyond the starting 13. Only four of the six can be used, but the structure lets coaches carry coverage for specialist positions or inject a playmaker late. Slater was hailed after picking winger Selwyn Cobbo on the bench in the 2024 opener, a match in which Walsh was belted out of the game in the opening minutes by Joseph Suaalii. What once looked risky has become orthodox: conserving interchange flexibility to manage injuries and chase points.

Selwyn Cobbo is back in the squad after some great form for the Dolphins.

Key factors shaping Walsh’s omission

• Uneven early-2026 form, including 19 errors across eight games
• Queensland’s emphasis on possession and field position after last year’s perfect completion template
• Spine balance with Sam Walker, Cameron Munster, and Harry Grant already leaning into improvisation
• Bench strategy under six-player interchange rules prioritising coverage and in-game control
• Recent history showing Walsh’s peaks and troughs can directly swing team outcomes

Bench choices

The selection logic raises a further question: if Ponga or Tabuai-Fidow is preferred at fullback, why did the electric, game-changing Walsh miss out altogether — not even as one of the six reserves? As ever, Slater’s public response to the omission was opaque, leaving room for interpretation about how the coach assessed form, role fit, and game-state contingencies.

“I’ve got a great relationship with Reece, and I’ve got a lot of time for him. I love the way he plays his footy. He’s getting there.”

— Billy Slater, Queensland coach

Presumably, Slater’s private messaging to Walsh is more pointed. What is clear from selections around the edges is how he is using the expanded bench. Ezra Mam and Gehamat Shibasaki both received votes of confidence from Slater during last year’s series — Mam when he was named 18th man immediately after returning from a ban for bringing the game into disrepute, and Shibasaki when he was picked at centre for the decider only a dozen or so games after playing rugby union in Japan.

Ezra Mam returns, probably on the bench.

But, like Walsh, neither has been at his best to start the year with the Broncos, and both are limited in positional range — Mam is a five-eighth, while Shibasaki is big enough for the forwards but is almost exclusively a centre.

Given the make-up of the top 17, neither Mam nor Shibasaki would likely get on the park unless something goes wrong for Queensland. Yet as Origin history repeatedly shows, the margin between control and chaos is thin. The Maroons will be hoping that once again their coach’s bold calls will be right when the teams hit the park in Sydney.