Billy Slater’s major selection decision heading into the State of Origin opener was undoubtedly to omit David Fifita from his Queensland squad.
The Gold Coast backrower has endured a tough season so far, easing back to fitness after a pre-season injury while also being involved in a messy contract saga.
Yet despite the obvious setbacks and distractions on the Glitter Strip, Fifita has worked his way off the bench to become a starter again as well as committing to the Titans after a shock backflip on the Sydney Roosters.
However, Slater decided to not include the 24-year-old at all in his 20-man squad for the opening game of the series that they went on to win 38-10.
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The shock call lit up social media and caused plenty of head scratching to try and work out how the coach reached the conclusion that he was better off without the boom backrower for Game I.
Jaydn Su’A was instead rewarded for his strong form at St George Illawarra with a starting berth, while J'maine Hopgood was handed his Maroons debut off the pine alongside a unique role for Selwyn Cobbo.
Fifita was even omitted from the extended squad with veteran Felise Kaufusi and Brendan Piakura preferred ahead of him.
"I've got no doubt that Dave will get back to the footy he played last year, and I'm sure he will wear a Maroons jersey in the future again," Slater explained.
"Dave created a really high standard for his footy last year. He just hasn’t quite got to that standard this year."
After having an almost non-existent pre-season due to injury, Fifita played his first game in Round 4 this year.
He was utilised off the bench by Des Hasler in four of his first five appearances of the campaign with the Titans winning just one of those matches during a disastrous run.
However, he was reinstated as a starting backrower in Round 9 and has since gone on to complete the 80 minutes in all but one match as the club have recorded two wins in four.
Fifita had his best game of the season against his former side Brisbane on the eve of Origin selection as he ran riot in an upset win over the Broncos.
Fifita ran for over 200 metres for the first time this season, while providing a constant outlet down the left edge to produce two try assists.
The highlight reel plays have always been in Fifita's wheelhouse as seemingly every week he adds a new sidestep, rampaging charge to the line or a deft pass to his centre.
But his work-rate out of yardage and in defence, which was used to criticise him in the past when said attacking plays failed to come off, have also come on leaps and bounds.
The sight of Fifita taking a catch from the kick-off and charging into the teeth of the Brisbane defence optimised his desire to drag the Titans to only their third win of the season.
"This team doesn’t get selected over the last 24 hours, it’s a collection of habits over the course of the year and what players have done in the past," Slater stressed after Fifita’s shock dropping.
Su’A has played the full 80 minutes in all but one of his 10 NRL appearances so far this season to demonstrate his big engine but that wasn't required in Sydney as he played just 53 minutes.
Meanwhile, Jeremiah Nanai has completed all but three of his games and went on to play the whole game for the Maroons.
The 21-year-old has a name for the attacking side of things which is illustrated by his 10 NRL tries this season.
However, he has quietly built his overall contribution to a higher level with the backrower routinely making 30 or more tackles.
Nanai leads the way amongst the three with 31.5 tackles per game, compared to Su’A’s 27.8 and Fifita’s 24.2.
Despite his lower numbers, due in part to his reduced minutes so far, Fifita has a better tackle efficiency after missing just 13 of his 231 attempted tackles this season.
The Titans star leads both men for metres made, with his 150m per game average more than Su’A’s 114m and Nanai’s 88m, while he has also made more linebreak assists, offloads and tackle busts.
In fact, since becoming a starter again in Round 9, Fifita has made 37 tackle busts across four games which is more than Su’A (17) and Nanai (15) have managed combined during that same period.
Yet all this counted for nothing when it came to selection time with Slater preferring the Su'A and Nanai partnership.
The Cowboys star went on to make a team-high 43 tackles while also going agonisingly close to scoring, while Su'A was third in his side's tackle count with 31 to showcase the defensive solidity Slater sought from the pair on the edges.
Fifita’s Maroons omission continues the rocky relationship he has had with his state since debuting back in 2019.
He has featured in three of the past five series but missed the entirety of the 2020 and 2022 series and could be in danger of doing so again this year.
Fifita was welcomed back into the fold in 2023 and played in all three games to bring his total QLD caps to eight.
Although he may have to wait to add to that with Slater declaring his side still had plenty of improvement despite their commanding victory in Game I.
"I thought we were so far off with our footy," the coach said post-match.
"That's all to come. I don't think we played the way we prepared. There is so much more for this footy team and that's exciting."
