Queensland’s Kurt Capewell has one last chance to prove his fitness ahead of the State of Origin clash in Sydney.
The centre was mostly a spectator at CBUS Super Stadium on Sunday for the Maroons’ main session before Wednesday’s game two against NSW.
Battling a groin niggle, Capewell did fitness testing alongside Brenko Lee (calf) at the session and hasn’t trained fully since last week’s game one in Adelaide.
The 27-year-old failed to finish that match after his groin complaint became too sore and must be in doubt for game two with Tuesday’s captain’s run his last chance to train before the next match.
“He obviously played well on Wednesday night and we just need to make sure he’s right for Wednesday,” five-eighth Cameron Munster said.
“If that that means he doesn’t train all week until captain’s run, that’s what he’ll have to do.”
In Capewell’s absence, Phillip Sami spent most of Sunday’s session at left centre with Edrick Lee on the wing.
Sami, along with Capewell one of eight debutants for the Maroons in game one, has made just one appearance at centre for Gold Coast in the NRL in the past two seasons.
Overall, the 23-year-old has played centre in just four of his 55 NRL appearances.
Munster said if Capewell was ruled out, he was confident Newcastle winger Lee would be more than capable on what would be his Origin debut.
“Edrick’s a really good player. He’s obviously shown at Knights that he can finish tries and is good in the air,” Munster said.
“He’s strong in the backfield so he’d be really good for us.
“Obviously we’ve seen on Wednesday night with how Phillip Sami played, he’s very quick and he’s good with his feet so he will be very handy for us if we need to use him in the centres as well.”
The Maroons will have a day off on Monday before Tuesday’s captain’s run on the eve of Game II at ANZ Stadium.