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‘I’ve never seen it’: Maroons drama sets scene for Origin I

New South Wales legend Brad Fittler said he has “never seen” Queensland approach a State of Origin match like they have on this occasion.

Much of the discussion surrounding the Maroons has centred on the high-profile absence of stars Johnathan Thurston and Billy Slater, who are missing through injury and form respectively.

And this week, Queensland skipper Cameron Smith even addressed a possible player strike as the NRL pay dispute heats up.

Fittler, who played 31 times for New South Wales and captained them on 14 occasions, questioned the way Kevin Walters’ side has prepared for Wednesday’s series opener at Suncorp Stadium.

“They’ve had players retire, key players are injured and it’s questionable whether they picked the right side,” Nine Network commentator Fittler told The New Daily.

“There’s big question marks there, with no Slater.

“And most of the headlines over the last day are of Cameron Smith talking about the RLPA – that’s just another distraction for them.

“I’ve never seen it like this.”

Fittler says the absence of Thurston and Slater will be keenly felt – and that they aren’t the only key players the Maroons are missing.

“They [Thurston and Slater] are two of the all-time greats,” he said.

“JT seems to play his best footy for Queensland – he plays well all the time though.

“Between him, Billy Slater, Greg Inglis and Matt Scott, they are big losses.

“A lot of their players are getting to the back end of their careers.

“They’ve done a great job, but if we’re prepared and we do the work [we can win].”

Fittler sees plenty of positives in New South Wales’ team and hailed their new attacking strength.

“Laurie Daley changed a lot of players for the last game last year and now, I don’t think we’ve ever been so stable,” he said.

“It looks like we can score 20 points – we haven’t done that a lot when it counted.

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New South Wales won game three of Origin last year. Photo: Getty

“Our forwards look good. With Jarryd Hayne and Josh Dugan, we might get some tries off kicks, which they’ve done a lot but we haven’t.

“It feels like that [a changing of the guard] … the [NSW] players have been very good for their clubs.”

Much has been made of the lack of ill-feeling and barbs being traded before the series opener.

It led one Sydney newspaper to put ‘Mate of Origin’ on their back page after New South Wales skipper Boyd Cordner spoke of the respect he had for Queensland – a far cry from ex-captain Paul Gallen’s usual rhetoric.

But Fittler says it shows the Blues are focused this time around.

“Boyd is more concerned about winning,” he added.

“For a long time, we’ve done a real good job of promoting the game. But he is more focused on the result.”

It’s a result that Fittler believes will go New South Wales’ way, tipping James Maloney to be the man-of-the-match.

New South Wales squad:

James Tedesco, Blake Ferguson, Josh Dugan, Jarryd Hayne, Brett Morris, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Aaron Woods, Nathan Peats, Andrew Fifita, Josh Jackson, Boyd Cordner (c), Tyson Frizell, David Klemmer, Wade Graham, Jake Trbojevic, Jack Bird, Matt Moylan, Jordan McLean, Jack De Belin

Queensland squad:

Darius Boyd, Corey Oates, Will Chambers, Justin O’Neill, Dane Gagai, Anthony Milford, Cooper Cronk, Dylan Napa, Cameron Smith (c), Nate Myles, Josh Papalii, Matt Gillett, Josh McGuire, Michael Morgan, Sam Thaiday, Aidan Guerra, Jacob Lillyman, Jarrod Wallace

The Nine Network’s State of Origin coverage begins on Wednesday from from 7.30pm (AEST) on Channel Nine.

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