{"id":659313,"date":"2026-05-09T06:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T06:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/659313\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T06:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T06:41:15","slug":"contenders-to-replace-tom-dearden-as-queensland-halfback-in-state-of-origin-billy-slater-selections-injury-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/659313\/","title":{"rendered":"Contenders to replace Tom Dearden as Queensland halfback in State of Origin, Billy Slater, selections, injury update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eighteen days away from the opening match of the 2026 State of Origin series, the Queensland Maroons have been dealt a massive blow with incumbent halfback Tom Dearden being ruled out with injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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His absence has created a dilemma for coach Billy Slater who will now need to look for another option to replace him in the halves alongside captain Cameron Munster.<\/p>\n

Here at foxsports.com.au, we look at six candidates that could wear the No. 7 jersey for the Maroons come Game One.<\/p>\n

DALY CHERRY-EVANS<\/p>\n

Admitting earlier in the year that he has not retired from the Origin arena, former Queensland Maroons skipper Daly Cherry-Evans has emerged as the obvious candidate to replace Dearden.<\/p>\n

Although he was dropped by coach Billy Slater in favour of Dearden during last year\u2019s series, Slater may opt to call upon the veteran, especially considering his experience and ability to deliver in big moments.<\/p>\n

A 26-time QLD representative, he has shown in the last month with the Sydney Roosters that he hasn\u2019t lost his touch and still remains as one of the game\u2019s elite halves in the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m never going to be that guy that just comes out and retires, but I\u2019m very comfortable with the side that they picked last year to win the series in the back end,\u201d he said via the NewsWire in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cTom Dearden and Cam Munster, there\u2019s absolutely no doubt in my mind that they\u2019re Queensland\u2019s best options going forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf something ever happened moving down the track, you just keep your options open, and it\u2019d be bloody hard to say no to a Queensland jersey again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billy Slate added last month, \u201cHe\u2019s been great. It\u2019s good to see him enjoying his footy. He said he needed a fresh start, and he\u2019s got that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the oldest player in our game and he\u2019s doing a wonderful job. I\u2019ve spoken to him a couple of times at games, and it\u2019s good to see him putting some games together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SAM WALKER<\/p>\n

He may have had a rocky start to this year\u2019s campaign but Sam Walker has turned his form up over the past couple of months and has emerged as a serious contender to accompany Cameron Munster in the halves.<\/p>\n

Touted as a future State of Origin star for Queensland for a number of years, Walker hasn\u2019t been able to put a step wrong for the Roosters at the moment, which has seen them win six consecutive matches against good opposition in the Sea Eagles, Sharks, Knights, Dragons, Broncos and Titans.<\/p>\n

A former Under-18s Queensland halfback has an elite kicking game, natural attacking flair and amazing composure and vision for a playmaker as well as being a high-percentage goal-kicker – something that is incredibly useful in the Origin arena.<\/p>\n

In nine matches this season, he has scored five tries, provided eight try assists and four line-break assists and forced a whopping ten dropouts to go with an average of 180 kicking metres (per game).<\/p>\n

Walker has also found himself in the Maroons extended squad in 2022, 2023 and 2024 under coach Billy Slater.<\/p>\n

BEN HUNT<\/p>\n

It may have been two years since Ben Hunt last played in the Origin arena for Queensland, but could Dearden\u2019s injury mark a potential return for the veteran playmaker?<\/p>\n

Although he has been primarily used as a hooker during his time at the Broncos, there is no doubt that he could easily transition back into the halves – something he has done at Red Hill when Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam have missed games due to injury.<\/p>\n

Previously representing Queensland on 20 occasions between 2017 and 2024, his experience and connection with a lot of the squad will further press his claim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has also not retired from the representative arena and was even in contention to play in last year\u2019s series before enduring a hamstring injury in the lead-up to Game One.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ll always put my hand up, unless I believe that I\u2019m not up to the standard. And I think if I\u2019m not up to the standard then Billy is definitely not calling me,\u201d Hunt said at the start of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as I\u2019m playing good footy and Bill\u2019s got that belief in me, then I\u2019ll always play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re always hopeful to play Origin, for sure. I\u2019ve always said I\u2019ll never turn down a jersey if I get the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should Ben Hunt be considered to wear the No.7 for the Maroons in Game 1?Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

BRAYDON TRINDALL<\/p>\n

Known for his creative playmaker, high attacking intelligence and strong kicking game, Trindall has been knocking on the door of Origin selection for some time.<\/p>\n

Although he plays in the No. 6 for the Cronulla Sharks at club level, the former Under-16s and Under-20s Maroons representative isn\u2019t a traditional five-eighth and surprisingly sometimes plays as more of a halback than halves partner Nicho Hynes.<\/p>\n

In an interview last year, Maroons coach Billy Slater revealed that a potential Origin debut is not beyond the Sharks star, and he has been keeping his eye on him for a number of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fully aware that he\u2019s a Queenslander, that\u2019s for certain,\u201d Slater said at the time on The Sunday Footy Show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that he\u2019s played, not just this year but last year as well, he\u2019s someone to certainly keep an eye on. I don\u2019t think that would be beyond him, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

EZRA MAM<\/p>\n

With the NSW Blues set to pick two halfbacks (Mitch Moses and Nathan Cleary) in the halves, could the Maroons go in the opposite direction and pick two five-eighths?<\/p>\n

While it would be hard to see either Mam or Munster shift into the halfback role, they are both great communicators in attack and they could very easily just play their natural game on either side of the field rather than having a dominant playmaker in attack.<\/p>\n

Mam also has a great combination with the likes of Reece Walsh, Gehamat Shibasaki, Patrick Carrigan and Brendan Piakura – all of whom could be selected in the Game One team.<\/p>\n

Named as the state\u2019s 18th man for Game Two of last year\u2019s series, he is keen to turn his Origin dream into a reality soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it\u2019s still a dream,\u201d he told The Courier-Mail earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve still got a lot of things to work on in my game and I\u2019m not where I want to get to yet this season, but it\u2019s definitely something I would like to be a part of if I get the opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c(I learnt a lot about the) habits from the boys that are at that elite level, taking stuff from their book that I can put into mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Hunt passed fit for Manly showdown | 01:08<\/p>\n

TANAH BOYD<\/p>\n

At the start of the season, if someone told you that Tanah Boyd would be in the Origin conversation, you would have called them crazy.<\/p>\n

However, Boyd has transformed into arguably the most in-form halfback in the NRL and has had no trouble in helping lead the New Zealand Warriors to the top of the NRL ladder.<\/p>\n

Although he was born in Penrith, New South Wales, he is eligible to represent the Maroons and is a former Under-16s and Under-20s Queensland representative during his younger days.<\/p>\n

An outside chance to be selected, the 25-year-old had scored three tries, forced five dropouts (with an average of 537.7 kicking metres per game) and provided ten try assists and nine line-break assists in just nine appearances during this year\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

Other eligible contenders: Jamal Fogarty (MAN), Jake Clifford (NQL), Kalyn Ponga (NEW)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eighteen days away from the opening match of the 2026 State of Origin series, the Queensland Maroons have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[18743,64,63,689,21686,11170,4567,3483,4565,4430,318580,318578,22327,222174,21683,68983,4517,318579,115360,229530,19972,28053,4518,25366,222177,244518,4464,761,762,673,2613,158,677,225693,22329,16284,13385,13391,141744,4478,85,1080,776,64027],"class_list":["post-659313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-adam-reynolds","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-ben-hunt","tag-billy-slater","tag-cameron-munster","tag-club-level","tag-cronulla-sharks","tag-daly-cherry-evans","tag-eligible-contenders","tag-elite-halves","tag-elite-kicking-game","tag-ethan-lee-chalk","tag-ezra-mam","tag-halfback-role","tag-hamstring-injury","tag-high-percentage-goal-kicker","tag-in-form-halfback","tag-incumbent-halfback","tag-injury-update","tag-jake-clifford","tag-jamal-fogarty","tag-kicking-metres","tag-lee-chalk","tag-line-break-assists","tag-mitch-moses","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-south-wales","tag-new-zealand-warriors","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-opening-match","tag-patrick-carrigan","tag-penrith","tag-queensland-maroons","tag-reece-walsh","tag-representative-arena","tag-sam-walker","tag-sports","tag-sydney-roosters","tag-tom-dearden","tag-veteran-playmaker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}