State of Origin: Corey Horsburgh willing to bide his time for 'dream' Queensland Maroons call-up

The Raiders forward from Caboolture missed out on selection in Billy Slater's Queensland Maroons squad on Monday morning.

While game one won't feature "Big Red", it's thought Slater hasn't shut the door completely on Horsburgh.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart hinted as much in sharing details of his conversations about Horsburgh with Slater in the lead-up to the series' opening squads being named.

The Origin teams do change from game one to game three and Horsburgh knows that opportunity is always knocking in the most brutal matches in rugby league, in a series over three months.

"It's a long series, so there's going to be injuries and suspensions," Horsburgh told The Canberra Times.

"I've just got to keep playing good footy and hopefully I'll get another chance if I do."

After overcoming some injury hurdles in his career, Horsburgh is gaining steam in the NRL. This season he has scored two tries in 11 games for the Raiders, and is averaging 119 run metres a game.

In the off-season Horsburgh made a goal to cut down his weight and get fitter, and the results are showing with his charging attack. One third of his total metres for the year have come post-contact and he's kept second-phase play alive with his superb off-loading ability.

On Sunday, Horsburgh was not as strong as he'd been in recent games for the Green Machine, but was still very solid.

The 25-year-old finished with a team-high four offloads, 153 run metres, 32 tackles and two tackle breaks, with two missed tackles and one error.

The Queenslander had a more brutal summary of his performance and how it may have impacted his chances at Origin after Canberra's 42-14 loss.

"I personally don't think I deserve it [a Queensland call-up] after that," he said.

"It was just one of them nights. I didn't play too good. I think we played bad as a team but it's a rollercoaster of rugby league and we've just got to get back on it next week.

"It would mean the world to be picked. It's a big dream of mine.

"It's always nice being in the conversation but I'm just really focused on playing my footy, staying injury-free and if it happens, it's a bonus."

Horsburgh's omission and Josh Papali'i's retirement from State of Origin means this year's series will be the first time since 2011 that no Raiders player will feature in the Queensland side.

Slater made a point during his squad announcement press conference to gush about the legacy Papali'i had left on the Maroons in his incredible stint between 2013-2022.

"I just want to touch on Big Papa and what he brought to the team for a decade," Slater said. "I got the opportunity to feel Papa's presence as a player and then the confidence he gave me as a coach.

"I've got a great relationship with him and he spoke to me about a week ago now, he's made this decision and now we can celebrate his Queensland Origin career and what a warrior he was.

"He never took a backwards step, now he gives an opportunity to a guy like Tom Flegler to go out there and lead the way for our state."

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