Monday 4 June 2018 15:26, UK
Queensland full-back Billy Slater has been ruled out of Wednesday’s State of Origin opener with a hamstring injury.
The 34-year-old, who retires from Origin after this year's three-game series, sustained the injury during training on Sunday.
"I didn't pull up as well as I would have liked after our training run on Sunday and because I'm not 100 per cent, it's in my best interests as well as the team's to withdraw from Wednesday's game," said Slater.
Maroons head coach Kevin Walters has called up Anthony Milford and Kalyn Ponga ahead of Wednesday's game at Melbourne Cricket Ground, live on Sky Sports Arena from 10am.
"We knew we had some concerns with Billy but he's a champion player and we needed to give him every chance to play," said Walters.
"We've had plans in place to cover Billy if he didn't come up right and we've actioned that with Anthony and Kalyn coming in."
