NSW stars Latrell Mitchell and Cameron Murray will have to prove their fitness on Monday coach Brad Fittler looks set to roll the dice on the concussion status of Liam Martin.
Fittler will on Tuesday name his squad for the must-win second State of Origin clash in Brisbane on June 21.
Martin is firming for selection despite the Penrith star being taken from the field with category-one concussion symptoms in Saturday’s win over the Sydney Roosters.
Martin has not yet been diagnosed with concussion but will need to undergo assessment to permit him to play.
Fittler is keeping a close eye on South Sydney duo Mitchell and Murray, who didn’t play in their side’s loss to St George Illawarra on Saturday.
Mitchell (calf) and Murray (groin) will undergo fitness tests on Monday along with clubmate Cody Walker, whose chances of a recall appear to be widening as he battles a quad injury.
“They ran yesterday, I have spoken to (trainer) Eddie Farah and Souths have been really open with their communication,” Fittler told the Nine Network.
“They have a few players injured and they have all ran to a degree yesterday and they’ll all run again tomorrow. We’ll liaise with them.
"There’s a physical and a mental side, to get going for State of Origin. It’s a big ask.”
Fittler is under increased pressure heading to Suncorp Stadium with halfback Nathan Cleary and hooker Api Koroisau both sidelined.
Damien Cook will start at No.9 for the Blues, while Fittler has a choice between Nicho Hynes, Mitchell Moses and Adam Reynolds to fill Cleary's chief playmaker void.
The places of Hudson Young and Tevita Pangai Jr are up in the air after underwhelming debuts for the Blues in the loss in Adelaide.
Martin looms as a starter at the expense of Young, but would be on restricted training duties if allowed to play after stumbling out of a tackle against the Roosters.
“(Martin) sees the CMO (chief medical officer) at Penrith after 48 hours; that’s one of the important tests they have to pass to make sure they don’t have any headaches,” Fittler said.
“I spoke to Liam this morning and he said he was OK after the game.
“Hopefully he gets through that. Time-wise it falls within the protocols, so hopefully he’ll be right to play.
“There are things with contact and there are certain things they can only do at training and that will all be supervised.”
Penrith teammate and incumbent NSW No.6 Jarome Laui is adamant Martin remains a must-pick.
"With how he played last game, I think he was best on the park," Luai said, echoing Penrith co-captain and Blues lock Isaah Yeo's similar endorsement.
"So you take that into consideration and the way he played tonight, he was pretty good up to that point.
"I know Marto. He's reliable, Once you get him out there, he''ll be ready to rip some heads off."
