Aidan Guerra is the only new face in Queensland's 17-man squad for next week's State of Origin I at Lang Park.

Queensland Origin 1 Team 1. Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm - 22 games) 2. Darius Boyd (Newcastle Knights - 17) 3. Greg Inglis (South Sydney - 21) 4. Justin Hodges (Brisbane Broncos - 18) 5. Brent Tate (North Queensland - 21) 6. Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland - 27) 7. Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm - 12) 8. Matt Scott (North Queensland - 14) 9. Cameron Smith (C, Melbourne Storm - 30) 10. Nate Myles (Gold Coast Titans - 23) 18. Chris McQueen (South Sydney - 3) 12. Matt Gillett (Brisbane Broncos - 6) 13. Corey Parker (Brisbane Broncos - 11) Interchange 14. Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Sea Eagles - 2) 15. Ben Te'o (South Sydney - 4) 16. Aidan Guerra (Sydney Roosters - DEBUT) 17. Josh Papalii (Canberra Raiders - 2)

The Sydney Roosters forward takes the place of Sam Thaiday, who was ruled out with a calf injury, in the only change to the squad that beat New South Wales in last year's Origin series decider in Sydney.

Guerra was named on the interchange bench, with Matt Gillett elevated to the Maroons starting line-up for the May 28 encounter.

Maroons selectors overlooked Dave Taylor despite his recent impressive form for Gold Coast.

Taylor missed out on a spot with out-of-sorts Josh Papalii retaining his spot on the interchange bench alongside Guerra.

Melbourne back Will Chambers and Roosters hooker Jake Friend are the 18th and 19th men in the squad.

The 26-year-old Guerra says he is excited about the chance to make his Origin debut.

"Everyone who plays the game wants to be on this stage and I'm glad I got the chance to do it," he said.

"There's a team there of some pretty capable players who have done it in the years before and I'm going to do my best to step up to their level."

Maroons coach Mal Meninga says he has confidence in Guerra's ability to handle the Origin stage based on his role in the Roosters' premiership triumph last season.

"Playing big time games is certainly helpful and so is being a part of the Roosters squad at the moment as a starting player, which is no mean feat," he said.

"He deserves to be here and I know he is excited about being here and he will take advantage of his opportunity."

Meninga says selectors had no hesitation in showing faith to the core of the squad that sealed an eighth-straight series victory last year.

"It's about loyalty, it's about who did the job last year," he said.

"Certainly in Game III they all excelled and made really good contributions to our success, so it's about loyalty and picking them again.

"We've got the utmost confidence that they will play really well again next Wednesday."

Meninga dipped his hat to Thaiday, who confirmed that he had made the painful decision to pull out of contention on Monday.

Thaiday had not played since April 11 but Meninga had been keen to give him until the last minute to prove his fitness.

"He made a tough but honest decision about his availability, full marks to him," Meninga said.

"When he is fit and raring to go he will come back into calculations."

Meninga highlights character as key to selection

Meninga took a thinly veiled swipe at wayward Blues half-back Mitchell Pearce, outlining character was also high on the selection criteria.

Pearce is in danger of being left out by Blues coach Laurie Daley after a wild night out at Kings Cross that earned a one-match ban from the Roosters.

"I am thankful that the players in the Queensland side put the game first," Meninga said.

"They understand their responsibilities and don't jeopardise their position or their opportunity to be selected in the Queensland team.

"They know part of being picked for the Queensland team is setting the right example.

"I am extremely proud of who we have in our team and because of that they get selected all the time."

The Blues will announce their squad on Tuesday.

ABC/AAP