The Origin defining call forced on Kevin Walters by Kalyn Ponga's injury

After Queensland's stunning performance in State of Origin I, this picture looked like a perfect metaphor for the seamless transition from one dynasty to the next.

The beaming figures of Cameron Munster and Kalyn Ponga celebrating with an on-field selfie.

One a 24-year-old with an already strong claim for the mantle of 'best player in the world', the other a 21-year-old whose freakish ability is unmatched.

Gone were Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk, yet in these two players and 30-year-old captain Daly Cherry-Evans, Queensland had already found successors who could dominate their NSW counterparts.

Then Perth happened. James Maloney was the most influential playmaker, Munster's self-appraisal was brutal and Ponga was successfully targeted and error-prone.

The icing on the cake: a calf injury that will sideline Ponga for two weeks, taking him out of calculations for the Origin decider and forcing a series-defining decision on Maroons coach Kevin Walters.

Already without his game-breaking fullback, Walters may now be forced to take a massive punt with his best player - a shift to the back for Munster and a new halves combination, likely pitchforking debutant Corey Norman into the hot seat at five-eighth.

There are other options but all have risks attached and some of the potential moves would have NSW's attacking stars licking their lips.

Moses Mbye is a capable fullback but if the Blues thought high kicks that isolated Ponga against an on-rushing Tom Trbojevic was a tactic worth pursuing, just imagine the barrage they'd give a significantly smaller replacement.

Michael Morgan is arguably the best available option to fill the custodian role but once again, it would give game two hat-trick hero Trbojevic an advantage by creating an unfamiliar Queensland combination on the left edge, with Mbye or Norman the likely centre in that less than ideal scenario.

Finally there's Norman, who has played plenty of fullback at club level but not for several years. It's hard enough to make your Origin debut in a decider, let alone doing it out of position where you're likely to be camped under bombs in pressure situations.

Munster was once thought of as the Storm's heir apparent at fullback after doing an apprenticeship under the legendary Slater.

In the end, Craig Bellamy identified how gifted he was and decided he needed him in the team on a full-time basis well before Slater was due to move on.

It didn't take long for him to establish himself as the best five-eighth in the competition and he's since proven that at representative level, having on several occasions been best afield for Queensland before taking Thurston's jersey in the Australian side.

Still, there's a strong case to be made that he's every bit as potent and effective with the additional space he's afforded to run the ball from fullback.

Norman has a strong kicking game and has the playmaking talent to be a match-winner in his own right in the No.6 jersey.

It would be a bold move but it might just be the right one.

A month ago, Queensland had the makings of another dynastic spine.

Walters has been forced to rip it apart and put it back together again for arguably the most important game of his coaching career.

It could be the making of him and it seems inevitable that Munster will be the man delivering the bouquets or the brickbats. Two states wait to see which.