Brisbane halfback Ben Hunt has backed teammate Darius Boyd to retain his Queensland Origin spot as he nears his NRL comeback.

Boyd, who suffered an achilles tendon injury in pre-season, could be back in Broncos colours as early as Friday night against Penrith.

The official line from Brisbane is that Boyd is a “week-to-week” proposition but the 27-year-old trained strongly on Monday and looks set to return to the ranks sooner rather than later.

The Broncos play three more times before Origin game one in Sydney on May 27, and Hunt believes Boyd may only need one good NRL performance under his belt to prove to Queensland selectors he is worthy of a call-up.