Munster's cheeky phone call to continue partying

In a season like no other, the 2020 State of Origin will take place in November.

Whether you bleed maroon or bleed blue, there's no game quite like State of Origin.

And with the series kicking off on Wednesday, November 4, we've got you covered with all the key match information and the biggest talking points.

THE SERIES:

Origin I: Wednesday 4 November 8.10pm - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Origin 2: Wednesday 11 November 8.10pm - ANZ Stadium, Sydney

Origin 3: Wednesday 18 November 8.10pm - Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Wayne Bennett

How to watch:

Live and exclusive on Nine, with coverage starting at 7pm and wrapping up with a post-game show until 11pm. You can also stream the match free on 9Now (click here for the full guide to the free live stream).

You can also follow the action with Wide World of Sports' live blog and Match Centre!

Teams for Origin I:

Queensland: 1. Alexander Brimson 2. Xavier Coates 3. Brenko Lee 4. Dane Gagai 5. Phillip Sami 6. Cameron Munster 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Christian Welch 9. Jake Friend 10. Josh Papali'i 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Coen Hess 13. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui 14. Ben Hunt 15. Lindsay Collins 16. Jai Arrow 17. Jaydn Su'A 18. Kurt Capewell 19. Moeaki Fotuaika 20. Dunamis Lui 21. Hymel Hunt

New South Wales: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Clinton Gutherson 4. Jack Wighton 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Luke Keary 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Daniel Saifiti 9. Damien Cook 10. Junior Paulo 11. Boyd Cordner 12. Tyson Frizell 13. Jake Trbojevic 14. Cody Walker 15. Payne Haas 16. Cameron Murray 17. Angus Crichton 18. Cameron McInnes 19. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 20. Nathan Brown 21. Zac Lomax

Daly Cherry-Evans, Gerard Sutton

The officials:

Gerard Sutton has been appointed to take charge of game one.

In the bunker will be Steve Chiddy (review official). The touch judges are Chris Butler and Todd Smith; while on standby are Ashley Klein (referee) and David Munro (touch judge).

The odds (courtesy of Sportsbet):

Origin I: Maroons $3.10; Blues $1.37 (correct at time of publishing)

Series: Blues $1.28; Maroons $3.75

Kalyn Ponga

The talking points:

The New South Wales Blues are considered outright favourites as they get set to take on a new-look Queensland Maroons outfit containing a host of fresh faces.

Heading into the series, the Maroons were dealt a number of cruel blows with Valentine Holmes (available after game 1), Kalyn Ponga and David Fifita all ruled out.

Even five-eighth Cameron Munster was no guarantee to take to the field after he attempted to continue grand final celebrations with his Storm teammates who defeated the Panthers last Sunday.

According to Storm teammate Cooper Johns, Munster made a phone call to assistant coach Mal Meninga to see if he could spend time in Byron Bay for just a little while longer.

 Cameron Munster

"Christian Welch, Felise Kaufusi, Paps [Ryan Papenhuyzen] were all pretty happy to go in [to Origin camp]," Johns told SEN.

"The only one, he was pretty reluctant and wanted to come to Byron, was Cameron Munster.

"I can confirm he called Mal Meninga for an extra 48 hours in Byron.

"We were at the signing session and he was still in his kit from the award's night. I was like 'Why don't you come to Byron instead of Origin camp' and he rang him up."

Queensland coach Wayne Bennett, who was a late appointment after former coach Kevin Walters was forced to depart, on Thursday announced his 21-man squad with eight debutants named in the starting 17.

AJ Brimson, Xavier Coates, Brenko Lee, Phillip Sami, Jake Friend, Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, Lindsay Collins and Jaydn Su'A are the debutants named at this stage in the starting 17.

Ryan Papenhuyzen looks set to miss Game One of the State of Origin through injury. (Getty)

Despite the Blues being favourites, coach Brad Fittler wasn't immune to any selection difficulties after Storm speedster Ryan Papenhuyzen was ruled out of game 1 due to injury.

Papenhuyzen had been talked up as the top pick to replace NSW fullback James Tedesco, who had also been under an injury cloud, having been seen wearing a knee brace.

Fittler did name Tedesco to start at fullback but it's expected the 27-year-old's availability will be officially confirmed after he passes a fitness test.

2019 State of Origin results

Origin I: QLD 18 (Gagai 2, Oates 1) d NSW 14 (Morris, J Trbojevic)

Origin II: NSW 38 (T Trbojevic 3, Addo-Carr 2, Frizell) d QLD 6 (Chambers)

Origin III: NSW 26 (Tedesco 2, Vaughan, Cook) d QLD 20 (Kaufusi, McGuire, Papalii)

Series result: NSW 2-1



from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/state-of-origin-2020-teams-start-time-odds-match-information/f12bc2c4-e23d-47e8-82e0-d9690f8469df

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