Naming their squad on Monday, Queensland made three changes to their Game 1 team, but one player who failed to earn a recall was Dolphins enforcer Felise Kaufusi.
After the squad was announced, Billy Slater held a press conference addressing the surprising exclusion of Felise Kaufusi, one of the state's most loyal servants.
Confirming he was one of a few under consideration, Slater decided to choose Jeremiah Nanai and Moeaki Fotuaika as his replacement forwards, while Raider Corey Horsburgh was added to the squad as the 19th man.
"Felise has done a fantastic job for the Queensland team throughout his whole career but in particular for this Maroon jersey," Slater said.
"It's just a shame that he hasn't been playing football over the past month. That's pretty important, to go out there and play one of the highest intensity games of rugby league without any footy under your belt, well it's not easy, but we felt this was the best option."
Slater also revealed why he decided to choose Jeremiah Nanai despite the Cowboys forward coming off a lengthy suspension.
"He played all three games last year and was outstanding," Slater said.
"I think the thing that gave me confidence in Jeremiah coming back into the team is he did come back from suspension and I felt that was probably the most energy he had in his footy all year.
"It looked like the Jeremiah of last year and he's obviously worked really hard through that period he was off and he's another guy who's earned his opportunity.
"He's a Queenslander, he's done the job before and he played really well on the weekend."
