Canberra Raiders front rower Dunamis Lui will make his State of Origin debut for the Queensland Maroons after being named to start in Game II at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night, 11 November.
The 30-year-old enjoyed his best season for the Raiders this year and has been rewarded with his first Maroons jersey after 11 years in the NRL.
Lui has been brought into the side after Christian Welch was ruled out with concussion and will start in the front row alongside his Raiders teammate, Josh Papalii.
Wayne Bennett has made a further three changes to his side with Valentine Holmes returning from suspension to cover for the injured AJ Brimson at fullback.
Jaydn Su’A will start in the back row for Coen Hess who has been dropped entirely from the squad with Moeaki Fotuaika coming onto the bench.
Queensland will be looking to wrap up the series when they travel to Sydney after the underdogs recorded a famous 18-14 victory over the NSW Blues in a tense series opener in Adelaide.
The Maroons were given little chance of winning the series, but the game one victory has given Queensland fans more hope.
The NSW Blues have also made several changes after their shock loss with the most notable being Boyd Cordner who has ruled himself out of the rest of the series after copping another head knock.
Cordner has been replaced in the back row by his Roosters teammate Angus Crichton, while another Rooster in Luke Keary has been dropped.
Keary has lost his spot after a poor debut in Game I, with Brad Fittler opting for Cody Walker at five-eighth instead.
Dale Finucane, Isaah Yeo and Nathan Brown have all been brought onto the bench to bolster the Blues forward stocks.
Jack Wighton remains in the centres and will be looking to improve defensively after struggling to contain Dane Gagai and missing seven tackles in game one. He did however run for 179 metres with the ball and looked dangerous in attack.
The Blues would hold no fears of trailing in the series after they dropped the opener last year before winning the final two games to clinch a 2-1 series victory.
Full teams:
NSW BLUES | QLD MAROONS | |||
1 | James Tedesco | 1 | Valentine Holmes | |
2 | Daniel Tupou | 2 | Xavier Coates | |
3 | Clint Gutherson | 3 | Kurt Capewell | |
4 | Jack Wighton | 4 | Dane Gagai | |
5 | Josh Addo-Carr | 5 | Phillip Sami | |
6 | Cody Walker | 6 | Cameron Munster | |
7 | Nathan Cleary | 7 | Daly Cherry-Evans | |
8 | Daniel Saifiti | 8 | Dunamis Lui | |
9 | Damien Cook | 9 | Jake Friend | |
10 | Junior Paulo | 10 | Josh Papalii | |
11 | Angus Crichton | 11 | Felise Kaufusi | |
12 | Tyson Frizell | 12 | Jaydyn Su’A | |
13 | Jake Trbojevic | 13 | Tino Fa’asuamaleaui | |
INTERCHANGE | INTERCHANGE | |||
14 | Dale Finucane | 14 | Ben Hunt | |
15 | Junior Paulo | 15 | Linsday Collins | |
16 | Nathan Brown | 16 | Jai Arrow | |
17 | Isaah Yeo | 17 | Moeaki Fotuaika | |
18 | Luke Keary | 18 | Brenko Lee | |
19 | Reagan Campbell-Gillard | 19 | Corey Allan | |
20 | Cameron McInnes | 20 | Josh Kerr | |
21 | Stephen Crichton | 21 | Edrick Lee |