Six days out from a potentially series-deciding State of Origin game two, Laurie Daley’s full complement of players have finally trained for the first time.
Impact back-rower Anthony Watmough trained on Friday morning, allaying fears he was in any doubt for the June 26 clash at Suncorp Stadium.
Watmough suffered a bad cork in a collision with Canterbury’s James Graham last Friday and is still sporting some bad bruising and heavy strapping on his upper thigh.
But it wasn’t enough to stop the hard-as-nails Sea Eagle taking to the training paddock, with Watmough taking in a light warm-up and roughly half an hour of a ball-work session.
The Blues had planned for Watmough to be hooked after the warm-up but the back-rower continued on after consulting with physio Liz Steet.
Both Watmough and skipper Paul Gallen (knee) sat out the final half an hour and watched on from the sidelines – but centre Josh Morris said the chances of Watmough missing were next to zero.
“I don’t think we need to worry too much about him,” Morris said before training.
“We know he’s a proven performer in the Origin arena.
“I don’t think it’s going to stop Choccy (Watmough).
“You’d have to cut his limb off before you’d stop him.”