With Daly Cherry-Evans facing an uncertain future due to an ankle injury, Maroons forward Felise Kaufusi believes Melbourne Storm teammate Cameron Munster should be Queensland's skipper despite not captaining his club side.
The retirement of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis in recent times has left a big leadership void in Kevin Walters' side, as Queensland look to make up for last year’s series loss.
Cherry-Evans was considered the front-runner before he left the field with an ankle injury in Manly's 24-20 defeat of the Raiders on Sunday.
Cherry-Evans hopes the diagnosis is not serious but the Maroons are preparing for plan B if he is unavailable.
Matt Scott and Michael Morgan have plenty of experience performing captaincy duties at club level, but Kaufusi endorsed Munster as the perfect man to step into the role under the bright lights of the Origin stage.
"Munster is a good leader as he has shown throughout in games at the Storm, so if he gets it I am sure he will do a good job," Kaufusi said on Monday.
"I know he will just take it in his stride and do the best he can. I will be looking forward to it if he does get the nod."
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Kaufusi is in his fifth year at the Storm and has seen Munster grow as a player by taking on added responsibility since Cooper Cronk's departure at the end of 2016.
"I think he (Munster) has had to grow without having that halves partner there that he has had in the last couple of years," he said.
"He has had to stand up a lot more so credit to him and I think he has still got a lot of improvement in him in that space.”
Kaufusi made his Origin debut for the Maroons last year, with the 26-year-old playing in all three matches as New South Wales claimed just their second series triumph since 2005.
The Storm big man remains hopeful he will get another chance to show his wares at Origin level this year, but knows he needs to continue to perform well for his club.
"You have just got to focus on yourself and make sure you are playing good footy week in week out," he said.
"If that is enough that is enough. If I do well for my team at club level and play some good footy hopefully that is enough to get a look in."
