There's a real concern at fullback with neither Kalyn Ponga or Greg Inglis playing in the position for their club side. If Ponga is selected, I believe he'd be able to slot in just fine but given Greg's interrupted pre-season it would be real long odds for him to play there for Queensland. If he's fit, I'd imagine he'll play in the centres and Bennett may have done Queensland a solid by putting him and Gagai on the right hand-side and forming that combination.
Cherry-Evans most likely has the 7 sown up after his impressive display at Suncorp in the dead-rubber but he'll have plenty of competition from Michael Morgan. Morgan's kicking game against the Dragons was really impressive, especially in the second half when the game was in the balance.
Christian Welch who came off the bench for Melbourne was very impressive and appears to have gone from strength to strength. Welch has been a member of the Maroons pathways program for a couple of seasons now and must be firming for a debut.
The other stand-out was Nene MacDonald who made a real difference for the Cowboys on the wing. MacDonald's carries were crucial to the Cowboys exit sets and he scored a crucial try on the stroke of half-time which proved a turning point in the game. He's got heavy competition in Oates and Gagai, but if for whatever reason a position opens up, he appears to be a handy alternative. Considering all the reports about his pre-season he was shockingly good on Saturday.
Otherwise I thought the first round was a case of a lot of incumbents putting their hand up. Oates, Kaufusi, Munster, Papalii and McGuire were all fantastic. They put their hands up and while I had question marks over Kaufusi and Munster after their disappointing series, they could turn out to be better for the experience.
Finally, I believe we'll see a change at dummy half. The buzz seems to be that Ben Hunt will play 9 for Queensland like he did for the majority of Game III last year, but if Jake Friend can keep his form, Kevie may opt for the more complete option. Friend was pretty poor for most of 2018, but since the back-end he's picked up his game and he was one of the Roosters best in a frustrating performance by them.
