![New duo: Cooper Cronk says Anthony Milford will be his Queensland halves partner.](/web/20170525084334im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/9/g/3/x/image.related.landscape.460x307.gwd0r7.png/1495696954496.jpg)
With a new partner in crime, Cronk must pull all the right strings
Nobody doubts Anthony Milford's ability but how he works with Queensland maestro Cronk could be the defining factor for the Maroons in the Origin opener in Brisbane.
Sports reporter
Nobody doubts Anthony Milford's ability but how he works with Queensland maestro Cronk could be the defining factor for the Maroons in the Origin opener in Brisbane.
The Maroons playmaker needed scans to convince him that his 36-game run had come to an end, with medical staff saying his shoulder had failed the tests needed to give him the green light to play.
Johnathan Thurston has his heart set on Origin I, but has pledged not to let his personal ambition override the team as he races the clock with his injured shoulder.
Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk say Pearce will have learned valuable lessons from his demoralising series in 2015, when his attempt at mentally rattling Johnathan Thurston backfired badly.
The Maroons captain says Thurston would be given until game time to play in the series opener and could be picked without a single training session to his name.
Missing superstars are heralding the end of a wonderful era for Queensland.
The Maroons are expecting a roughhouse reception for rookie playmaker Anthony Milford but are confident he can make them pay on the scoreboard as he prepares for his Origin debut.
Kevin Walters held back tears while Gene Miles still rates Slater as the greatest fullback he's seen. But when it came to deciding on Billy Slater and Darius Boyd for Queensland fullback, the vote was unanimous.
Brisbane's Anthony Milford will make his State of Origin debut with Maroons superstar Jonathan Thurston next to no chance of playing in the series opener next Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium.
It shapes to be a long second half of the season for Ivan Cleary as Wests Tigers lost 36-0 to the Broncos, James Tedesco endured a forgettable evening and Josh Aloiai suffered a gruesome leg injury.
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