Queensland captain Cameron Smith says he does not feel any pressure to extend his representative career next year despite admitting half of the all-conquering Maroons team may be missing by 2018.

Smith believes it will mark a changing of the guard for the Maroons when he runs out in a record 40th State of Origin game in the series opener in Brisbane on Wednesday night.

Queensland are missing more than 100 games of Origin experience in game one – Matt Scott (knee), Billy Slater (overlooked), Johnathan Thurston (shoulder), Corey Parker (retired) and Greg Inglis (knee).

They will blood two debutants – five-eighth Anthony Milford and prop Dylan Napa.

Thurston will draw the curtain on his representative career after the 2017 World Cup and Queensland halfback Cooper Cronk is yet to decide whether he will play on next year.

The Origin future of veterans Inglis and Slater is also up in the air.

But Smith said he would have no problem walking away from Origin next year.

“I don’t feel the pressure to play on to make the transition easier,” Smith said.

“There’s been a changing of the guard a little bit for this first game and none of us know how long we have got – only Johnathan has put an end date to it.

“Cooper’s future is up in the air. Next year there could be half the side gone.

“(But) I have spent the last 39 games helping players and putting the team in a good position.

“There will never be any pressure on a player to finish up or play on.”

Smith rated the milestone match one of the biggest challenges of his Origin career after losing the likes of Thurston and Scott while selectors overlooked fullback Slater.

“Given the personnel we have lost, it throws a few question marks up over our side for game one,” he said.

“But I am not feeling as much pressure as 2008 when I first captained the side – I felt very nervous about that.

“I am very confident with the two new guys (Milford, Napa) that have come into this side.”