Toyota Cowboys NYC squad members Regan Grieve and Cooper Bambling have been given the chance to complete a unique captaincy treble on Wednesday night.
After leading the Townsville Stingers to victory in both the under-18 Mal Meninga Cup and national championships finals already this season, the North Queensland duo will co-captain Queensland against New South Wales in the annual under-18 clash at ANZ Stadium prior to State of Origin game two.
Bambling will be the Maroons’ halfback, while Grieve will be in a back-row that features another Cowboy, Coen Hess.
All three have already played under-20s for the Cowboys in their first season with the NYC squad.
Two other contracted Cowboys – winger Gideon Mosby-Gela and bench forward Ross Bella – are also in the Queensland team that has headed to Sydney after being in camp at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.
They are coached by former Mackay Cutters Intrust Super Cup coach Anthony Siebold who rates Grieve and Hess, who will play on the right and left edge respectively, as the strength of his side.
“It’s going to be a massive challenge. I think the Queensland under-18s have only won one game in the last 13 years,” Siebold told QRL TV.
“NSW have got a good core group of players backing up again so it’s going to be really challenging, especially playing down there.
“It’s a good opportunity for our players to compete at that level.
“We’re going in with some confidence that we can compete for long periods of time.”
The under-18s game will kick off at 6pm and will be live on qrl.com.au.
QUEENSLAND UNDER 18s
1. Adrian Henley (Norths Devils)
2. Riva Pati (Brisbane Broncos/Wynnum Manly Seagulls)
3. Elijah Alick (Brisbane Broncos/Wynnum Manly Seagulls)
4. Junior Taefu (Brisbane Broncos/Wynnum Manly Seagulls)
5. Gideon Mosby-Gela (NQ Cowboys/Townsville Stingers)
6. Lachlan Lewis (Canberra Raiders)
7. Cooper Bambling (NQ Cowboys/Townsville Stingers)
8. Lindsay Collins (Brisbane Broncos/Norths Devils)
9. Jake Turpin (Melbourne Storm)
10. George Fai (Brisbane Broncos/Wynnum Manly Seagulls)
11. Regan Grieve (NQ Cowboys/Townsville Stingers)
12. Coen Hess (NQ Cowboys/Townsville Stingers)
13. Kieran Duffin (Brisbane Broncos/Norths Devils)
14. Ross Bella (NQ Cowboys/Mackay Cutters)
15. Samuelu Lavea (Brisbane Broncos/Ipswich Jets)
16. Charlie Galo (Melbourne Storm)
17. Keegan Hipgrave (Brisbane Broncos/Gold Coast Green)
18. Joseph Burchell (Wynnum Manly Seagulls)
Coach: Anthony Seibold
