Queensland will welcome back veterans Cooper Cronk and Corey Parker to the Maroons fold in a bid to avoid their first series whitewash at the hands of the Blues since 2000 in next Wednesday's Origin III encounter at Suncorp Stadium.
Cronk will make a surprise early return from the broken arm he suffered in Game One to claim back the number 7 jumper, pushing Manly's Daly Cherry-Evans back to the bench, while Parker also returns from a facial fracture sustained four weeks ago, coming in for Chris McQueen, who has been ruled out with an ankle injury.
Melbourne's Will Chambers makes his Origin debut on the wing as a replacement for injured veteran Brent Tate, and Matt Gillett will take his place on a revamped bench alongside Cherry-Evans, Ben Te'o and Dave Taylor. Jacob Lillyman earns his first starting cap, taking the place of star prop Matt Scott, who left the field early in Game Two with a fractured cheekbone.
Brisbane's Josh McGuire and North Queensland's Michael Morgan have been named as 18th and 19th men respectively, joining the Maroons squad for the first time.
Queensland Maroons
1. Billy Slater – (Melbourne Storm)
2. Darius Boyd – (Newcastle Knights)
3. Greg Inglis – (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
4. Justin Hodges – (Brisbane Broncos)
5. Will Chambers – (Melbourne Storm)
6. Johnathan Thurston – (North Queensland Cowboys)
7. Cooper Cronk – (Melbourne Storm)
8. Jacob Lillyman – (NZ Warriors)
9. Cameron Smith (c) – (Melbourne Storm)
10. Nate Myles– (Gold Coast Titans)
11. Aidan Guerra – (Sydney Roosters)
12. Sam Thaiday – (Brisbane Broncos)
13. Corey Parker – (Brisbane Broncos)
14. Daly Cherry-Evans – (Manly Sea Eagles)
15. Ben Te'o – (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
16. Matt Gillett – (Brisbane Broncos)
17. Dave Taylor – (Gold Coast Titans)
18. Josh McGuire – (Brisbane Broncos)
19. Michael Morgan* – (North Queensland Cowboys)
Coach: Mal Meninga
* Will join camp after Cowboys match on Saturday, July 5.
