Cooper Cronk believes the 2017 State of Origin series could help Maroons debut coach Billy Slater decide who will replace Cameron Munster.
Munster was ruled out of Wednesday’s home decision after giving Covid-19 a positive.
Tom Dearden, five-eighth of the Cowboys, is in line to debut at Origin with the Maroons confirming the 21-year-old will enter at 17.
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The venue where Dearden will play is still up in the air and the final 17 have yet to be confirmed, but there are whispers that he may not be in the eighth and instead Ben Hunt will move to the halves.
Speaking on NRL 360, Cronk, who played 22 games in Queensland, returned to the 2013 series and noted how coach Mal Meninga rolled the dice with a rookie: Munster.
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“If I have to go back to the third game, in 2013, with Johnathan Thurston out, without playing, Mal went with Munster,” he said.
“He had played less than a dozen games at five-eighths and threw it at five-eighths in an Origin decision and no game has been lost since then, so maybe that’s what Billy does.”
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Presenting if he was leaning toward Dearden, Cronk quickly said “yes.”
But he stressed that no matter where Hunt plays, he is the key to Queensland.
“I heard someone say Ponga should happen in halves, no, that shouldn’t happen. He’s his biggest threat with the No. 1 shirt,” Cronk said.
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“Billy can come up with a solution tomorrow and the solution is Ben Hunt or Tom Dearden. What position they play and where they start, I have no idea. But you can have them all on the field at once.
“Watch the second game, Ben Hunt started at nine, Harry Grant came on the field and Hunt stayed … He is the lock that can move from six to seven and nine to 13.
“I have Ben Hunt as the Queensland winner … I think Ben Hunt is the key to the third game.”
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