Size of the ticker is what counts for Mal Meninga Queensland's State of Origin side visit flood-hit town Bundaberg to connect with fans. Queensland coach Mal Meninga and captain Cam Smith on the team bus during a visit to Bundaberg yesterday. THOSE thinking Queensland is lacking any kind of killer punch because it has not named a prop on its bench should have a chat with Mal Meninga. The former Test centre and captain played in the backline for all his representative career but he knows what he wants in a player. Commentators seized on the fact Meninga named four backrowers on his bench for Game I next Wednesday night, while NSW coach Laurie Daley flipped the Andrew Fifita card on his - a 114kg front-rower who on Monday night carried the ball more than 200m for the second successive week, along with making 46 tackles and 26 hit-ups in 66 minutes. It raised the question of whether Queensland was a little undersized. "When we match them up we'll see who is undersize," Meninga said yesterday with almost a twinkle in his eye. It's not about the size of the beast; it's the size of the ticker. He handpicks his team with that criteria in mind. Looking at both sets of front-rowers and back-rowers, Queensland just shades NSW for weight - 847kg to 836kg. To match the Cronulla cargo ship in Fifita, the Maroons have Canberra's David Shillington, who also tips the scales at 114kg. He has one slight advantage in that he has played seven Origin games and 15 Tests. Fifita is on debut but has played for the Indigenous All Stars twice. Shillington is mild-mannered off the field but won't take a backward step on it. We've got players like Sam Thaiday and Nate Myles who can shove up into the front-row really easily. Corey Parker is also good in the middle," Shillington said when asked if the Maroons' pack lacked a little muscle up front. "They are mobile props in themselves," he said. There's always a need for specialist props. So with Scotty (Matt Scott) and me there, we might end up playing a few more minutes than normal so we can have that constant go-forward on the field. But when we're off, we've got the mobile props who can take the reins. Their side (NSW) isn't that much bigger or have more specialists than us. It sort of evens out. Shillington felt some players were unlucky to miss out but backed Meninga's intellect in team selections. "Whoever he picks are the right selections," he said. There's people like Martin Kennedy and Josh McGuire who were talked about as other props. But the people in the team now, you don't want to get rid of any of them. Shillington was particularly pleased Meninga decided to introduce Raiders teammate Josh Papalii - "Papa" to his friends - to the Queensland fold as 19th man. He is there to be blooded. Papa is great. Obviously he probably won't play this game but the hits he's been putting on and the runs he's been making ... he won't be long. If he brings that to the Origin arena he's going to be hard to stop. "He's got some footwork on him and he's just got that raw power," Shillington said.