Maroons confirm squad for State of Origin Game 3

The Queensland Maroons have confirmed their team for Game 3 of the State of Origin series, with a pair of changes headlining the three overall moves in Billy Slater's side.

Reece Walsh will miss the dead rubber in Sydney with suspension after he was hit with a three-match ban for verbal abuse of a referee playing for the Brisbane Broncos.

With Kalyn Ponga withdrawing his availability from the Origin series, it means AJ Brimson has been pushed into the side for the second game of his Origin career, having debuted in 2020.

Brimson was part of the Maroons' squad as 18th man in the second game of this year's series.

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In the forwards, the injured Tom Flegler has been replaced by Corey Horsburgh, who was also part of the wider squad for the Maroons in Game 2 and has been in fine form for the Canberra Raiders as a lock forward throughout the 2023 season.

Horsburgh beats out a long list of players who could have featured for the Maroons, while Slater has also named his team with Reuben Cotter and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui to start, while Lindsay Collins and Moeaki Foutaika come off the bench.

Maybe the biggest surprise in the Maroons lineup is the non-recall for Selwyn Cobbo, who missed Game 2 with injury. Xavier Coates played in that game and retains his spot for the dead rubber.

Unsurprisingly, the Maroons have elected to make no other changes to their side for the dead rubber, with Tom Dearden and J'maine Hopgood included as the 18th and 19th man, respectively.

The Cowboys have the bye in Round 19, while Hopgood will be free to play for the Eels, provided there is no mishap leading up to the weekend in Origin camp.

Game 3 of the series will be played at Accor Stadium on Wednesday, July 12, with kick-off set for 8:05pm (AEST).