Queensland need another hero.

You might argue they've already got plenty to pick from, with Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith all still on deck for State of Origin III even though Johnathan Thurston has now spectacularly gone down, but we all know Thurston was the ultimate hero.

He's irreplaceable, but you've still got to replace him. So who do you replace him with?

The easiest thing for Queensland coach Kevin Walters to do would be to promote Michael Morgan from the bench to five-eighth and it would be immediately understandable if that was the option he took.

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But this is a massive decision for the Maroons with the series still alive at Suncorp Stadium on July 12 after they somehow rescued it with their come-from-behind win in game two on Wednesday night.

Other contenders, either for the starting spot or the bench utility spot, should Morgan be elevated to the starting side, include Parramatta's Corey Norman, Brisbane's Ben Hunt, Manly's Daly Cherry-Evans . . .

And Melbourne's Cameron Munster.

You've got a fair idea where I'm going with this now, haven't you. Look, I'm a big Munster fan. I love his skill, I love his toughness, I love his obvious attitude that says to his opponent "I reckon I'm better than you, so I'm going to try my stuff and you can do your best to stop me".

Cameron Munster Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

To be honest, I'd seriously consider throwing him in to start but that's easy for me to say. I haven't got the hopes of an entire state riding on my shoulders. At the very least, I'd have him in the 17-man squad, taking Morgan's place on the bench if it works out that Morgan goes up.

Munster can make things happen, and he's rough and tumble. You may have seen him in the background in those victorious team-song scenes from inside the Queensland dressing-room after their 18-16 win at ANZ Stadium, lapping up the excitement. He clearly wants it bad.

The fact Munster was 18th man for that game shows he's banging on the door anyway; with Thurston out it's time to bring him in.

Don't think about those others, like Norman, Hunt and Cherry-Evans, all being more experienced. Sometimes you've got to with the guy who's there on the spot, because it just feels like the right choice, and that's Munster in this case.

After that you've just got to decide whether to put him on the bench or start him, and maybe Walters will consider leaving Morgan on the bench because he likes the options that player provides from there.

Munster could even be considered for the centres, with Darius Boyd out injured as well, but the Maroons do have another strong option to consider there. Dane Gagai could be moved in from the wing and Cory Oates recalled.

Coach Walters will obviously have his own thoughts, but he also doesn't have far to go to look for respected opinions on whether Munster will be up to making his Queensland debut in what is bound to be one of the most intense Origin games ever.

I'm sure Munster's Storm teammates -- Smith, Cronk and Slater -- will be ready to tell Walters he would handle it, and for very good reason.

It's an over-used phrase, I know, but Munster is an Origin player.

Thurston's season-ending shoulder injury is obviously a shattering outcome for a mighty player, and it has already had the effect of turning the betting market for Origin III on its head. The Maroons had opened up favourites, but now it's the Blues.

Johnathan Thurston Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The game was going to be Thurston's Origin farewell, since he was quitting representative football at the end of the season, and right now there will obviously be widespread and bitter disappointment that he won't be there.

But this is Origin, baby. At the end of the day it's bigger than everyone. Hell, they even kept playing it after Wally Lewis retired!

The bad news about Thurston is just another twist in the ongoing tale and once the build-up to the game starts it will all be about what a huge Origin encounter like this means, and who is going to win and why. And then they'll play. Can't wait for that.