{"id":422582,"date":"2026-05-11T17:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/422582\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T17:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:34:09","slug":"former-qld-star-chooses-dearden-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/422582\/","title":{"rendered":"Former QLD star chooses Dearden replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Dearden’s injury means a potential Origin debutant could be making an appearance at halfback, and Corey Parker<\/a> has shared who he thinks is the best choice.<\/p>\n

Last year saw Queensland make the brutal call to drop veteran halfback Daly Cherry-Evans<\/a>, with Dearden stepping into the side and ultimately claiming the Wally Lewis Medal after leading the Maroons<\/a> to series victory.<\/p>\n

Now, with Dearden injured and potentially ruled out for the whole series, coach Billy Slater<\/a> once again faces a defining selection decision.<\/p>\n

One player emerging strongly in the conversation is Tanah Boyd<\/a>, who is arguably the form halfback of the competition and has continued to impress with his game management and kicking control.<\/p>\n

Former Queensland forward Corey Parker<\/a> believes Boyd offers the safest and most balanced option for the Maroons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTanah Boyd<\/a> is a stable (pick),\u201d Parker said on SENQ Breakfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cKicks long, makes his tackles, rips in, has a crack, got a wonderful kicking game, because Sam Walker’s long kicking game is not ideal.<\/p>\n

\u201cMunster’s kicking game in the series last year wasn’t ideal either, if you remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another contender looming as a potential debutant is Sam Walker<\/a>, whose creativity and unpredictable style make him one of the game’s most dangerous attacking halves.<\/p>\n

However, Walker’s unconventional approach and concerns surrounding his long kicking game could make selectors hesitant to throw him straight into the pressure cooker of State of Origin<\/a> football.<\/p>\n

With Queensland needing stability alongside Cameron Munster<\/a>, the next fortnight could prove crucial in deciding who gets the nod.<\/p>\n

Both Boyd and Walker now head into Magic Round<\/a> with enormous pressure and opportunity, knowing strong performances could go a long way toward securing the Maroons’ vacant halfback role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Dearden’s injury means a potential Origin debutant could be making an appearance at halfback, and Corey Parker…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-422582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}