Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin says he’s resigned to losing all seven of his State of Origin players for Friday night’s NRL clash with the Sharks at Suncorp Stadium.
Griffin says he’s preparing for his young team named on Tuesday to be unchanged for the blockbuster showdown.
Queensland stars Sam Thaiday, Petero Civoniceva, Ben Hannant, Corey Parker, Justin Hodges, Matt Gillett and Ben Te’o are all part of the Maroons 20-man squad.
However, despite the fact three players will still be cut from the Queensland team, Griffin doesn’t expect the likes of Te’o or Gillett to be available for him on Friday night even if they don’t play in the Origin III decider next Wednesday.
“If it happens it happens,” Griffin said of losing all seven Origin players.
“But we won’t get too many back I don’t think.
“We picked 17, the same 17 trained today, we will be okay.
“It hasn’t been disruptive.”
The Broncos will field the same side that beat the Sydney Roosters 40-22 with only two exceptions.
The new face in the Queensland squad Te’o is expected to be replaced in the Broncos starting pack by Brendon Gibb while Aaron Whitchurch is tipped to make his NRL debut off the bench for Brisbane.
The Broncos have named young hooker Kurt Baptiste as their 18th man.



