{"id":466263,"date":"2026-06-08T03:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T03:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/466263\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T03:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T03:22:09","slug":"qld-maroons-confirm-team-for-state-of-origin-game-2-2026-three-changes-as-walsh-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/466263\/","title":{"rendered":"QLD Maroons confirm team for State of Origin Game 2, 2026: Three changes as Walsh returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Queensland Maroons<\/a> have confirmed their side for Game 2 of the 2026 State of Origin<\/a> series, with three changes, including one of them forced.<\/p>\n

Bench forward Patrick Carrigan<\/a> and back Gehamat Shibasaki<\/a> had to be replaced due to injuries they sustained last weekend during a shock Brisbane Broncos’ loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a>, while coach Billy Slater<\/a> has also elected to axe Ezra Mam<\/a> from his bench after he was dropped by Michael Maguire<\/a> ahead of Brisbane’s clash with the Gold Coast Titans<\/a> on the weekend.<\/p>\n

The back seven – which again features Kalyn Ponga<\/a> at fullback, Selwyn Cobbo<\/a> and Jojo Fifita<\/a> on the wings, Robert Toia<\/a> and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow<\/a> in the centres, and Cameron Munster<\/a> to pair Sam Walker<\/a> in the halves, remains the same as Game 1.<\/p>\n

Thomas Flegler and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui<\/a> will again start at prop, with Harry Grant<\/a> at dummy half, but Reuben Cotter<\/a> no longer starts in the second-row.<\/p>\n

Instead, he moves to lock, with Max Plath<\/a> – who is also the back-up dummy half in the side – shuffling to the bench. Briton Nikora<\/a>, expected by some to be axed for Game 2, takes over a spot in the second-row alongside New Zealand Warriors<\/a> veteran Kurt Capewell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lindsay Collins<\/a> and Trent Loiero<\/a> retain their bench spots, with Kulikefu Finefeuiaki<\/a> coming onto the bench as Carrigan’s replacement, although the duo will ultimately play different roles.<\/p>\n

Reece Walsh<\/a> and Murray Taulagi<\/a> take the remaining bench spots, meaning Queensland will run without a specialist half on the six-man bench, with Heilum Luki<\/a> named the 20th man.<\/p>\n

Walsh had been axed for Origin 1 and will only get onto the field in Game 2 if Queensland need quick points or there are injuries in the back seven, while Taulagi, a long-term Origin player, has been battling with injuries and will only play if there are injuries to one of the centre or wing duos.<\/p>\n

Game 2 will be played next Wednesday, the 17th of June, in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

QLD Maroons team for Game 2<\/p>\n

1. Kalyn Ponga<\/a> (Newcastle Knights<\/a>)
2. Selwyn Cobbo<\/a> (Dolphins<\/a>)
3. Robert Toia<\/a> (Sydney Roosters<\/a>)
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow<\/a> (Dolphins<\/a>)
5. Jojo Fifita<\/a> (Gold Coast Titans<\/a>)
6. Cameron Munster<\/a> (c) (Melbourne Storm<\/a>)
7. Sam Walker<\/a> (Sydney Roosters<\/a>)
8. Tom Flegler<\/a> (Dolphins<\/a>)
9. Harry Grant<\/a> (Melbourne Storm<\/a>)
10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui<\/a> (Gold Coast Titans<\/a>)
11. Briton Nikora<\/a> (Cronulla Sharks<\/a>)
12. Kurt Capewell<\/a> (New Zealand Warriors<\/a>)
13. Reuben Cotter<\/a> (North Queensland Cowboys<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Interchange
14. Max Plath<\/a> (Dolphins<\/a>)
15. Lindsay Collins<\/a> (Sydney Roosters<\/a>)
16. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki<\/a> (Dolphins<\/a>)
17. Trent Loiero<\/a> (Melbourne Storm<\/a>)
18. Reece Walsh<\/a> (Brisbane Broncos<\/a>)
19. Murray Taulagi<\/a> (North Queensland Cowboys<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Reserve
20. Heilum Luki<\/a> (North Queensland Cowboys<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Queensland Maroons have confirmed their side for Game 2 of the 2026 State of Origin series, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-466263","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\/466263","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=466263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}