Corey Horsburgh set for Origin debut

July 1, 2023 5:28 pm.by Wayne Heming

Fiery Canberra redhead Corey Horsburgh will fulfil a childhood dream and play for Queensland in the third Origin game in Sydney.

After 64 NRL games, all but two of them for the Raiders, the rugged kid from Caboolture, north of Brisbane, will get his shot at Origin at the age of 25.

The only question is, whether he starts or comes off the bench.

But he has impressed Queensland coach Billy Slater enough to win a place in his 17-man Maroons squad which will be named on Sunday night or Monday morning, chasing a series clean sweep after winning the first two games convincingly.

Horsburgh displays all the qualities to make an Origin forward and the big bonus for Slater is he now plays big minutes for the Raiders.

He is mobile, tough, aggressive, has an off-load and at times can be emotional which can work either way in the high-pressure atmosphere of Origin.

With Brisbane prop Thomas Flegler ruled out with a foot injury, Slater has a few options, including playing Reuben Cotter up front leaving Horsburgh to battle with Dolphin’s hitman Felise Kafusi, Kurt Capewell and Christian Welsh in the back row.

Horsburgh and Gold Coast utility AJ Brimson will be the new faces in Sydney with Brimson taking over the No.1 jumper from suspended star, Reece Walsh.

Brimson and Horsburgh were 18th and 19th men respectively for game two so Slater and co-selectors Darren Lockyer and Gene Miles have promoted them to minimise any disruptions to game three preparations.

Kefusi will win a recall should Queensland lose a forward over the weekend.

Winger Selwyn Cobbo, who has been struggling with a hip pointer injury and who looked off the pace against the Titans last week is not certain to win back his spot after his game-two replacement Xavier Coates played strongly in a losing Storm side.

Queensland will be favourites with online bookmakers at around $1.80 with NSW $2 outsiders in a betting role reversal for the Maroons who are usually outsiders, especially in Sydney.

Out-of-form NSW captain James Tedesco, who needs a big Origin appearance after failing to fire in Adelaide and Brisbane is surprisingly an $8.50 chance to take man-of-the-match honours behind Queensland match-winner Cameron Munster.

NSW coach Brad Fittler is tipped to make several changes to his 17-man squad which will again be missing strike centres Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic.

His biggest call will be who plays number, Jerome Luai, who has worn the No.6 in the two losses, or Nicho Hynes, dumped for game two after an eight-minute cameo appearance in Origin I.

Speculation is Fittler could lose his job if Queensland inflicts an Origin clean sweep.

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