Billy Slater is embracing the added tactical element of a State of Origin series where he and NSW rival Laurie Daley will have the luxury of selecting from a six-man interchange.
The NRL altered the interchange rules during the off-season, giving coaches more flexibility in covering for injuries or players being ruled out under concussion protocols.
The new rules have created another strategic layer to the game in 2026 with coaches wary of burning through their interchanges too early and leaving themselves unable to cover for contingencies.
Unless there is an incident of foul play, coaches are still only allowed to play four players named on the bench and make just eight changes throughout the 80 minutes.
But Wednesday night's series opener at Accor Stadium in Sydney will be the first time those rules have been applied at Origin level, with Slater wary of leaving his side without sufficient cover.
"It changes the way that you think about your rotations and it changes the way that you select your bench, because you can pretty much cover all bases," Slater said.
"The one thing that you've got to remember is you can only use four (players) and you only get eight (interchanges), so you've got to be strategic on how you use them.
"We all know Origin is fatiguing and that's going to be no different tomorrow night.
"You've got to be supporting the people who need those rests and then you've got to be allocating for contingencies that you know may arise."
Queensland have chosen a bench which includes two props in Pat Carrigan and Lindsay Collins, one lock in Trent Loiero and an edge back-rower in Briton Nikora.
Playmaker Ezra Mam and outside back Gehamat Shibasaki make up the remainder of Slater's six-man interchange.
"There's a bit of a plan but at the same time things can move and change so the coverage is really important as is being flexible," Slater said.
Daley, meanwhile, has opted for a similar make-up, picking two locks in Cameron Murray and Victor Radley and a lone prop in Jacob Saifiti.
Five-eighth Matt Burton, hooker Blayke Brailey and Penrith rookie Casey McLean round out the NSW bench.
Daley's predecessor Brad Fittler famously had to deploy bench hooker Damien Cook at centre in game two of the 2023 series when Tom Trbojevic succumbed to injury just three minutes into the match.
"It (your plan) can change in the first five minutes," Daley said.
"Ideally you want to have someone you want to use, probably three interchange players, and then you're holding one back.
"In terms of the plan, there's a lot of plans that we'll have ready but it's about seeing how the game unfolds before we go into a lot more detail."
