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He has been a constant in the Queensland Origin team for more than a decade but Maroons forward Sam Thaiday is confident the next generation of halves are ready to step in should Johnathan Thurston's calf injury sideline him for an extended period.

Due to go for scans on Sunday after being carried from the field in Saturday night's shock loss to the Wests Tigers, initially estimates have Thurston possibly missing a month of football which would almost certainly see him miss the Test against New Zealand in Canberra on May 5.

After a record 36 consecutive State of Origin appearances for Queensland, Thurston has until May 31 to prove his fitness to Maroons coach Kevin Walters but in the unlikely event he does not play Thaiday has faith in those lying in wait.

Brisbane's Ben Hunt is next to no chance of selection after scans confirmed he could be out for as long as two months with a hamstring injury leaving the likes of Daly Cherry-Evans, Corey Norman, Michael Morgan and Anthony Milford vying to partner Cooper Cronk in the halves.

Cherry-Evans (six Origins) is the most experienced of the quartet when it comes to playing for Queensland with Thaiday urging coach Kevin Walters and selectors Gene Miles and Darren Lockyer to look to the future.

"We've got some great halfbacks there that can certainly fill a role and if you want to look to the future we can maybe blood a new young halfback now," Thaiday said.

"Definitely with Billy Slater hopefully putting his hand up for the team, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith still steering the team around, I'm sure that we'll still have a strong enough Queensland team.

"Daly's done a job for us in the past but we'll wait and see what Kevvie's thinking.

"I'm glad I'm not a selector."
 

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Queensland Rugby League respects and honours the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.

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