Sims is joined by Dragons trio Tyson Frizell, Jack de Belin and Paul Vaughan – with the latter two being two of 11 players set to make their Origin debuts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Frizell is one of only six incumbents included following the Blues' 2017 series-deciding game three last year, while Sims has been named as 18^th man.

“There’s a lot of unlucky players – Luke Keary, Josh Jackson, Tariq Sims, Dale Finucane, Nick Cotric, Wade Graham, Trent Merrin,” Fittler told Fairfax Media.

“All those blokes were doing what we wanted.

“I had the final say before it went to the board but the conversations with ‘Brandy’ [Alexander] and Danny Buderus were heavy.

“There was a lot of chat because I can’t remember having this many players in good form.”

This squad is the dawn of a new era for the Blues, who have lost 11 of the past 12 series, as it will mark the most new faces in sky blue since game three 1984.

Combined, the Blues will have just 40 matches worth of experience – while Queensland captain Greg Inglis has 30 on his own, making up more than a quarter of the Maroons total 112 Origin caps.

New South Wales State of Origin squad team: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Tom Trbojevic, 3. Latrell Mitchell, 4. James Roberts, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. James Maloney, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. David Klemmer, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 11. Boyd Cordner ©, 12. Tyson Frizell, 13. Jack De Belin. Interchange: 14. Paul Vaughan, 15. Jake Trbojevic, 16. Angus Crichton, 17. Tyrone Peachey, 18. Tariq Sims and 19. Nick Cotric.