Queensland veteran Lindsay Collins has reportedly been ruled out of State of Origin 3, while reports have also emerged that Kulikefu Finefeuiaki and Heilum Luki have been axed from Billy Slater’s squad. Collins suffered a head knock in the Roosters’ win over Brisbane on Friday night, and Joel Gould of AAP is reporting that he’s out of Origin 3.
Collins failed a head injury assessment (HIA) on Friday night, meaning he’s subject to the NRL‘s mandatory 11-day stand-down protocol. State of Origin 3 is 12 days after the Roosters and Broncos game, but Collins wouldn’t be able to do any contact training in Maroons camp.
Queensland veteran Lindsay Collins (L) is reported out of State of Origin 3. Image: Getty
“He’s disappointed at not being able to go back on,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said about Collins. “He’s also pretty clear about when he felt the knock where he wasn’t good enough to go back on. (The symptoms) didn’t appear until half-time. When they did appear we didn’t put him back on.”
Collins has played 17 Origin games for Queensland and has been a mainstay in the Maroons’ squad since debuting in 2020. It’s a devastating blow for him to miss the decider at Suncorp.
Lindsay Collins suffered a head knock in the Roosters’ win over the Broncos.
(Matt King)Pat Carrigan set to be named for State of Origin 3
‘The League Scene’ and The Courier Mail are reporting that Finefeuiaki and Luki will both be left out of Slater’s 20-man squad after they were on the bench and 20th man respectively in Game 2. Jeremiah Nanai and Corey Horsburgh have reportedly earned recalls, while Broncos star Pat Carrigan will apparently be named and be given every chance to play.
Carrigan was initially ruled out for the rest of the series after suffering a syndesmosis injury, and wasn’t expected back until Round 20. But Broncos coach Michael Maguire had revealed he was a chance to play in Round 18 – which is four days before Origin 3.
Slater is apparently willing to take Carrigan into camp and give him every chance to play. “If Patty does come back, it will be one hell of an effort,” Maguire said on Friday night. “He knows his body better than anyone and we’ve got really good medical staff. They won’t take any risks with him. It’s not 100 per cent, but it’s a possibility.”
The Queensland team will be confirmed on Monday morning. But the likely team is being reported as the below:
Laurie Daley names NSW team for Origin 3
Meanwhile, Laurie Daley has axed Brian To’o, Kotoni Staggs, Dylan Lucas and Api Koroisau from his NSW team, while Tolu Koula has been benched and Victor Radley dropped to 20th man, Jack Bostock has been handed his Origin debut on the wing, while Stephen Crichton, Bradman Best, Liam Martin, Haumole Olakau’atu and Blayke Brailey have all been recalled.