Queensland coach Billy Slater’s big bench gamble paid off in a serendipitous but not entirely unpredictable way in the men’s State of Origin series opener.
When the Game I squads were announced, there were a few bombshells.
New South Wales had dropped its captain, was blooding a new halfback and named a fistful of debutants as Michael Maguire began his new era, reshaping the Blues into a grit and grind team behind new skipper Jake Trbojevic.
For the Maroons, coming off two straight series wins, there were not as many questions before or after the team was made official, but one thing was lingering when our eyes reached the 17th name on the list: Selwyn Cobbo.
With the rapid pace of Origin causing so much fatigue for middle forwards, carrying a pure outside back on the bench is a rarity and a risky proposition.
But looking at the past few years, not having one is just as risky.
“Four of the last six Origin games we’ve had to replace an outside back,” Slater said as the team prepared for the worst-case scenario.
In the 2022 decider, Cobbo himself was one of three players knocked out in the opening exchanges, forcing Ben Hunt and David Fifita into the centres.
And it is not just Queensland.
In the 2020 decider, James Tedesco was knocked out and the Maroons exploited Isaah Yeo out of position in the centres.
And the Blues were undone last year when Tom Trbojevic tore his pectoral muscle 150 seconds into Game II, with the Maroons sealing the series as substitute hooker Damien Cook tried his best to stay in the fight but was ultimately outmatched in the centres against Valentine Holmes.
Despite that, the Blues once again were without even a Hunt-esque utility on the bench, while the Maroons carried Cobbo and specialist hooker Harry Grant alongside prop Moeaki Fotuaika and debutant lock J’maine Hopgood.
Slater eventually appeared to get fed up with being asked so many times in the lead-up to this year’s opener about why he named Cobbo on the bench — at one point saying he might “create” a brand new position out of thin air for him — but even he admitted it was a risk.
As it turned out, no parlour tricks were needed as the seemingly inevitable happened. Reece Walsh was floored by Joseph Sua’ali’i and Queensland needed a fresh outside back after eight minutes.
Cobbo came on, slotted into his favoured position at left centre, and electric Dolphin Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow moved back to fullback.
“The team’s been accustomed to adapt to adversity and that’s no different to tonight,” Slater said after the Maroons’ 38-10 win in the series opener.
“I thought Hammer was great slipping back to that fullback position.
“Hindsight’s a great thing. [Having Cobbo on the bench] worked out in our favour.”
Hat-trick hero Tabuai-Fidow lauded his coach.
“Billy’s a smart coach like that,” he told ABC Sport.
“Anything can happen in the Origin arena.”
Tabuai-Fidow now boasts an outlandish eight tries from five Origin games, leaving him just one behind 36-game legend Darren Lockyer on the Maroons’ all-time try-scorers’ list.
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