Queensland is reportedly ready to tear up its usual pick-and-stick script, with coach Billy Slater weighing a shake-up that could put Kalyn Ponga in the No. 7 jersey and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow at fullback.
The move would mean Ponga replacing the injured Tom Dearden if he is chosen at seven, while reports suggest Tabuai-Fidow has edged in front of Reece Walsh for the No. 1 role. The changes would alter both the halves and the fullback positions in one stroke, and they have quickly become the biggest talking point around Queensland’s selection plans.
Darryl Brohman made his view plain on The Continuous Call Team, saying Ponga is “better suited out wide” and adding, “I don’t like him at seven.” That assessment cuts to the heart of the debate. Ponga has long been seen as a natural attacking weapon, but the question for Queensland is whether that ability translates cleanly into the organizing role of halfback when the series is on the line.
Tabuai-Fidow’s case is being driven by form as much as by reputation. He has been in electric touch for the Dolphins this season, and that has put him squarely in the frame for a bigger Maroons role. For Queensland, the attraction is obvious: speed, confidence and a player in top club rhythm at a time when the side appears willing to make bold calls rather than simply preserve the existing order.
That is the real shift here. Slater is reportedly moving away from the familiar “if it is working, leave it alone” logic that often shapes State of Origin selection. Instead, Queensland appears prepared to make consecutive positional changes in its spine, with Dearden’s injury opening the door for Ponga and Walsh potentially losing out to Tabuai-Fidow.
The tension is that those calls are not happening in a vacuum. Queensland is not just choosing names; it is choosing structure, and the spine is where every Origin gamble gets judged. Ponga has the skill to light up a game, but seven asks for control, direction and repeated decision-making under pressure. Tabuai-Fidow, meanwhile, has the pace and finishing power that make him dangerous anywhere near the line, yet moving him to fullback would be a statement that current form matters more than established pecking order.
For Tanah Boyd, the noise around Queensland’s reshuffle is another reminder of how quickly selection conversations can shift when injuries hit and coaches decide to look beyond habit. The next move is Slater’s, and if these reports hold, Queensland will back instinct over continuity when the Maroons line up next.
