NSW coach Laurie Daley will give his injured State of Origin stars a chance to prove their fitness, after naming an unchanged side for next Wednesday’s decider.
Forwards Boyd Cordner (calf), Tyson Frizell (ribs and back), fullbacks James Tedesco (ankle) and centre Josh Dugan (corked thigh) all come into the camp under an injury cloud, with the former two considered the most serious.
Frizell will have scans on his battered body on Monday, while captain Cordner has given himself until Sunday to complete a full training session with the side before the clash in Brisbane.
But Daley said it was important to keep the team unchanged throughout the series, a feat that hasn’t been achieved since the Blues whitewashed Queensland in 1996.
“There’s some concern there but we thought we would give the guys an opportunity to prove their fitness,” Daley said at the team announcement.
“We started with this team, we want to finish with this team.”
St George Illawarra forward Jack de Belin has been named as 18th man and will come into the side in place of either of the back-rowers if they are ruled out.
However, he too is battling a calf complaint which threatens to ruin his preparations for his potential Origin debut against the Maroons.
Cordner is confident of turning out for the Blues, as they attempt to claim their second series win in 12 years, and first success in a decider at Suncorp Stadium since 2005.
“There’s a lot of time from now until game day,” he said.
“I would like to get in as many sessions as I could. I’m pretty confident at the moment.”
The Blues captain ran for the first time on a machine on Saturday, and said he had felt a marked improvement by Monday morning.
“I’ve had two light running sessions on a machine which takes your body weight away,” he said.
“They’ve been pretty good. I had my first run on Saturday and then again this morning and it was a pretty good improvement from Saturday.
“So as long as it keeps improving that’s a pretty good sign.”
He is also confident all 16 of his teammates from the opening game of the series will join him on the field on July 12, after speaking with them on Monday morning.
“Tyson will be a bit sore with his ribs and all the other boys are not too bad,” he said.
“Speaking to the boys before the injuries that they’re carrying, they would probably normally play with that week in, week out for clubs.
“They will be fine. I’ve got no dramas we’ll get in a really good week of training up at Kingscliff.”
NSW: James Tedesco, Brett Morris, Josh Dugan, Jarryd Hayne, Blake Ferguson, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Aaron Woods, Nathan Peats, Andrew Fifita, Boyd Cordner (capt), Josh Jackson, Tyson Frizell. Bench: David Klemmer, Wade Graham, Jake Trbojevic, Jack Bird.
