An early morning swim at Camp Maroons produced no sign of Queensland centres Justin Hodges and Greg Inglis, while injured fullback Billy Slater has reached his moment of truth as he prepares to test his tender shoulder.
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Inglis continues to be treated for a chest infection and flu and has been restricted to his room at Sanctuary Cove, while Hodges' condition is less serious; he cut his foot on the way to Thursday night's training while riding one of the resort bikes.
Hodges' recovery, as well as the need for covered footwear in the future, seems assured while coach Mal Meninga remained confident on Thursday night that Inglis would shake his sickness, although the timing has hardly been ideal.
All focus will remain on Slater, with the Maroons scheduled to take part in an opposed session against Queensland Cup side Burleigh Bears from 5pm.
Meninga is certain that Slater will take part in the opener but the Storm star still needs to get through a testing run on Friday evening to ensure he gets over the line.
The light contact will be the final test for Slater, who trained with the team on Thursday, although much of it was spent completing solo drills adjacent to the main field session.
"Billy will play, definitely," Meninga told News Ltd on Friday.
Outside of the injury and illness worries, Queensland interchange prop Jacob Lillyman said the Maroons weren't going to be lured into a grinding forward exchange with the Blues despite endless talk about the sheer bulk of the NSW pack.
He said they knew they must at least match their NSW counterparts but were comfortable with the decision to carry a much smaller bench that includes utility Michael Morgan, now seen as a potential game-breaker by leading Maroons including Cowboys team-mate Johnathan Thurston.
"You look at the players and especially the backline, we'd be stupid if we charged it up the guts all night. You have to give guys an opportunity and use the ball a bit and try to target different areas. That's the type of footy best suited to this team and that's the way we'll go about it," Lillyman said.
"They have picked a massive pack, I guess it's no secret how they want to play. Origin games are always a tough brutal contest and more so this time.
"But you can't solve anything by yourself, you have to put some numbers in around them, defend as a line, get good line speed on them. It's another game of footy, even though it's higher intensity. That's how we have to look at it."
