With Origin fast approaching and having profiled their NSW counterparts last week, we thought we would take a look at which Queensland stars from 2018 are in danger of losing their Origin jersey.
At the not so tender age of 33 and having endured a slow start to the season much like his Cowboys teammates, Maroons back-rower Gavin Cooper is well and truly in the firing line.
While Cooper has never been renowned for having stupendous output in terms of running metres, he has clearly been tailing off since the Cowboys 2015 premiership. Since 2015, his average running metres per game have dropped yearly from 120 to 95 to 85 to 72 and they have dropped once again this year to 68 in their six rounds.
Cooper has also already missed 13 tackles for the year, almost a third of the 44 he missed over the entire 2018 season.
With his legendary partner in crime Jonathan Thurston having hung up the boots at the conclusion of 2018, Cooper doesn't look nearly as dangerous as he has in previous seasons.
With young tyros Coen Hess, David Fifita, Felise Kaufusi and Jaydn Su'A all progressing well, combined with the return of Maroons stalwart Matt Gillett returning from injury, Gavin Cooper's grip on the Maroons' number 11 jersey is slipping.
After being the subject of a controversial article from the Courier Mail which slammed Glasby's selection for Origin II in 2017, the ex-Storm player has gone onto feature on three occasions for the Banana bender's.
While Glasby was selected off the back of his ability to slow and control the ruck thanks to the tutelage of Craig Bellamy at the Storm, Glasby has been solid without being spectacular in his three outings for the Maroons, averaging 84 running metres per appearance as well as 22 tackles.
While he is more renowned for his underlying numbers and ability to control the ruck than flashy plays, these strengths have fallen off a cliff since moving to the Hunter.
Glasby has averaged a lowly 72 running metres per game, as well as averaging only 40 minutes per game at lock. For context, his ex-Storm teammate Dale Finucane has averaged 56 minutes per game in the number 13 jersey this season. Glasby's ability to slow and influence the ruck since joining the Knights has also lessened, with opposition hookers Apisai Koroisau, Cameron McInnes and Josh Hodgson running riot from hooker against the Knights in recent weeks.
If Glasby is to retain his Origin jersey for the first game in Brisbane, he and the Knights will have to have a huge upturn in form over the coming weeks.
After an extremely solid start to life at his new club the Bulldogs, typified by a mammoth 182-metre running effort against the Eels in round two, Maroons prop Dylan Napa, unfortunately, suffered an ankle syndesmosis injury 16 minutes into the Bulldogs' round four game against the Storm.
Following the high ankle sprain suffered against the Storm, Napa was slated for a six-week recovery period. Which means he could return in round 10, leaving himself potentially only three games to prove himself before the Maroons are selected to go into camp.
While Napa will have to prove himself in minimal time and regain precious match fitness, the aggression he brings to the Maroons thanks to his notorious hits and tough runs is a huge asset. This combined with a dearth of representative quality front-rowers in Queensland should result in Napa regaining his Maroons jersey.
After re-signing with the Broncos on a one-year deal, Corey Oates will be hoping to add to his five Origin appearances in season 2019.
While he has made a solid start to 2019 in terms of his base statistics with six tries in as many appearances as well as averaging an impressive 155 running metres per game, if you dig a bit below the surface, Oates, much like his fellow Broncos teammates, has some teething problems with his game.
Oates has missed 10 of 29 tackles on his wing, as well as having made 13 errors in the opening six rounds, the second most in the competition. While his ball running prowess and try scoring ability is undeniable, these aforementioned errors and inconsistencies are clearly an area of concern for Maroons coach Kevin Walters after omitting Oates from his teams for Origin I and II.
However, following the departure of Valentine Holmes to the NFL, if Oates can minimise his errors and maintain his try scoring and running output, he will be in the pole position to retain the coveted Maroons jersey that he regained for Origin III.
While Titans prop Jarrod Wallace has had a solid start 2019 at the Gold Coast, averaging a solid 120 running metres per game along with 25 tackles per game, the reason he features on this list isn't because of his club form. It's the previous inability to transfer this solid club form to Origin level.
Having started similarly well for the Titans in 2018, Wallace was selected to start Origins I and II. This resulted in two below-par performance, putting up a paltry 52 and 43 running metres respectively, numbers that simply aren’t good enough for an Origin front-rower.
After these two less than impressive stints, Wallace was demoted to the bench for Origin II, narrowly surviving the axe after being dominated by NSW counterparts David Klemmer, Paul Vaughan and Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
While the lack of quality front rowers North of the border, combined with his solid start to the season, should result in Wallace's selection for Origin I. In his five-game Origin career, he is yet to average over 60 running metres through a series, and if he wants to cement himself as a Maroons regular he is going to have to improve on these below par numbers.