NSW rookie Jack de Belin is adamant he’ll be able to play through his nagging hip injury when he makes his State of Origin debut in next week’s series opener.

De Belin feared his Origin dreams were dashed when he collapsed on the sidelines after aggravating a hip flexor injury in St George Illawarra’s defeat to Penrith last week.

But the Dragons lock insists he’ll be right to take on Queensland on June 6.

“I was a bit scared there for a moment, I thought I did it again. I think I just aggravated it, so plenty of time, rest, rehab, it’ll be fine,” de Belin said at the True Blues’ dinner on Monday.

De Belin first suffered the injury in the Dragons’ round-nine win over Melbourne, and has since been forced to play with the aid of a painkilling injection.

He has failed to finish two of the Dragons’ past three matches, but declared himself fit to participate in all training sessions during the build-up to Melbourne.

He admits he will likely need another painkilling jab before taking the field at the MCG.

“I’m very confident it’ll be sweet. I’ve got ten days or more until Wednesday,” he said.

“With the hip pointer, it’s one of those things that you need to give it a bit of time to settle down. And when there’s six days to heal itself, it’s not really doing that.”

With his first Blues jersey on the line, de Belin vowed to play through the pain barrier.

“I’d much prefer it not getting needled because after the game it’s pretty painful,” he said.

“I’ve had some injuries where I’ve managed to get through without getting needled and I feel like I’ve been able to recover a lot quicker when you’re not jabbing a needle in it all the time.

“It’s a difficult decision but at the end of the day whatever’s best for me to play footy, I’m willing to do it.”