QUEENSLAND have delivered their most ruthless Origin overhaul in 15 years with Kevin Walters ending up to four careers and kickstarting just as many in a bid to save the series.

With NSW 80 minutes away from claiming the shield on home turf next Wednesday, Walters is ringing the changes with rookies Val Holmes, Coen Hess, Jarrod Wallace and shock bolter Tim Glasby coming in alongside Maroons masters Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston.

Making way are the likes of veteran props Nate Myles, Jacob Lillyman, out of form pair Justin O’Neill and Aidan Guerra, and Broncos duo Sam Thaiday and Corey Oates.

Not since 2002 have Queensland made six changes mid-series, but the mass revamp will see a vastly different 17 run out at ANZ Stadium next Wednesday.

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“With our recent results we felt there was a need for change,” Walters said.

“For game one we picked a team that won last year’s series and the majority of those players were afforded the luxury to perform in game one.

“We didn’t get the result that we needed to have, that Queensland needed to have so we went to plan B.

“(These changes) were always going to be in our plans to bring some new players into the team who haven’t played origin.

“The transition period for Queensland is right now, it’s not next year or the year after.”

Slater’s return will shift Darius Boyd elsewhere in the backline, with a call to be made later in the week on where he lines up after Origin I centre O’Neill’s dumping.

Either Dane Gagai or Boyd will replace the ousted Cowboy, while blockbusting winger Corey Oates has also been sensationally dumped in order for Test winger Val Holmes to make his Origin debut.

Up front veterans Myles, Thaiday and Lillyman see their careers almost certainly come to an end with Wallace, Hess and Glasby bringing forth a new generation in the Maroons pack.

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“We need our rotation through the middle to be a lot better,” Walters admitted after the Blues big men ran roughshod in their 28-4 Origin I triumph.

“That’s where we were behind the most, through the middle, and we’ve got some young forwards coming in now who can improve our middle.

Chairman of selectors Gene Miles said Thaiday and Myles understood “it’s transition time” for the Maroons, while Walters said axing the pair with over 60 Origins between them was not a decision made lightly.

Titans prop Wallace however must beat a one-game shoulder charge suspension at the judiciary, which he will challenge with the QRL’s backing on Tuesday night.

Chairman Bruce Hatcher confirmed during the announcement that the infamous TBA-loophole that saw Lote Tuqiri escape a ban in 2002 “would not be used, but the Queensland Rugby League will put all its resources behind Jarrod Wallace proving his innocence.”

Star five-eighth Thurston returns in the No. 6 jumper, while Cowboys teammates Gavin Cooper has also earned a recall thanks to the pair’s combination at club level and Cooper’s ability to play 80 minutes.

Ben Ikin, Nathan Ryan and Ben Glover are joined by Manly coach Trent Barrett to discuss the Sea Eagles’ stunning transformation in 2017.

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Two brutal performances from 114-kilo wrecking ball Hess since Queensland’s Suncorp capitulation have him set for a bench berth, along with 28-year-old Melbourne workhorse Glasby.

The most changes ever made to a Maroons line-up in the middle of a series is six, once in 1984 and again in 2002.

But with Anthony Milford (dislocated shoulder) the only injury-enforced change this time round, Walters has put the broom through his side as the greatest period of interstate dominance goes on the line.

17-man Queensland Maroons squad: Billy Slater, Val Holmes, Will Chambers, Dane Gagai, Darius Boyd, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Dylan Napa, Cameron Smith (C), Josh Papalii, Gavin Cooper, Matt Gillett, Josh McGuire, Michael Morgan, Coen Hess, Jarrod Wallace (pending judiciary), Tim Glasby