2018 State of Origin series

New South Wales Blues 1 - New South Wales named a record 11 debutants for Game 1 Queensland Maroons 1 - In Game I, Billy Slater was originally selected at fullback for Queensland but had to withdraw due to an injury. He was replaced at fullback by Michael Morgan, with Anthony Milford coming on to the bench as a replacement. 2 - Greg Inglis took over the captaincy for the Maroons after the retirement from rep football of Cameron Smith. A thumb injury after Game 2 meant Billy Slater would take over the role for Game 3. 3 - Daly Cherry-Evans made his return to State of Origin, named for his first start at halfback since Game 2 of the 2015 series. 4 - Billy Slater would controversially be awarded with the Wally Lewis Medal for Player of the Series, despite only appearing in two out of the three games in a team that lost the series. The NRL changed the process for deciding the award the following year. == Player Debuts ==

Game 1 • Cap no. 268, Josh Addo-Carr • Cap no. 269, Reagan Campbell-Gillard • Cap no. 270, Nathan Cleary • Cap no. 271, Damien Cook • Cap no. 272, Jack de Belin • Cap no. 273, Latrell Mitchell • Cap no. 274, James Roberts • Cap no. 275, Tom Trbojevic • Cap no. 276, Angus Crichton • Cap no. 277, Tyrone Peachey • Cap no. 278, Paul Vaughan • Cap no. 194, Andrew McCullough • Cap no. 195, Felise Kaufusi • Cap no. 196, Jai Arrow Game 2 • Cap no. 279, Matt Prior • Cap no. 197, Kalyn Ponga Game 3 • Cap no. 280, Tariq Sims == Under 18s ==

• Scott Sorensen was originally selected at second row and captain for New South Wales but withdrew. He was replaced at second row by Dean Britt, with Bayley Sironen coming on to the bench as a replacement, and was replaced as captain by Kyle Flanagan. == Women's State of Origin ==

The women's competition, which had in previous years been known as the Interstate Challenge, became known as the Women's State of Origin for the first time in 2018. The game was played on 22 June and was won 16–10 by New South Wales. ==References==