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Parker: The one name I want to see in Origin II
SEN • June 2nd, 2025 5:10 pm
As Billy Slater counts the cost of missed opportunity in State of Origin Game I last week, Corey Parker is leading the charge for the Maroons coach to change his selection criteria.
Players that display the right habits in their club environment has been a long standing feature of what Slater considers important when it comes to representative football, but at 0-1 in the series, Slater may need to make some radical alterations to his side.
Selwyn Cobbo, Dane Gagai, Corey Horsburgh and even Josh Papalii who retired from Origin in 2023 are among a host of names being linked with a call up for Game II, and Parker wants change.
“The interesting thing about Slater – and I’m a big fan – is he makes mention about whether his players display good habits for their club,” Parker said to co-host Ian Healy on SENQ Breakfast.
“You need good habits displayed because in the Origin arena they come to fruition.
“(But) I played with Inglis and Hodges; if you’re looking for habits in terms of training, they’re not the type of people that stack up when it comes to having them, there are some poor habits there, but when they went into a Maroon jersey, they were unbelievable.
“They were the people you had to have in your Origin side. Some of their clubland habits were not what you wanted them to be.
“Where I’m leaning with this is, Selwyn Cobbo may not display these habits for Slater (but) get him in the side.
“If you’re a NSW player and you have Cobbo in front of you you’ve got your hands full.
“He’s big, he’s strong, he’s a super talent.
“Does he display the habits you want to see? Probably not. But I don’t think he’s let the QLD jersey down.”
Queensland face NSW in Game II on June 18 in Perth.
