Liam Martin has revealed he will be "good to go" for State of Origin Game 1 if selected despite leaving the field at halftime during the Penrith Panthers' big win over the Cronulla Sharks on Saturday evening.
The Panthers, who bounced back from last week's horror loss to the New Zealand Warriors by flogging the Sharks, are facing three injury concerns out of the game.
Martin is joined by young utility Jack Cole with a hamstring complaint, while Matt Eisenhuth failed a HIA.
Coach Ivan Cleary said post-game that he wasn't sure of the severity of either hamstring injury.
"Marto [Liam Martin] went off at halftime. A little bit of hamstring awareness. I don't know [the severity]. I don't even like talking about hamstrings.
"Coley [Jack Cole] was a bit the same when he came off, and normally it's bad news, but I don't know. I'm not prepared to make a call on that, but they both came off with that," Cleary said during the post-game press conference.
"Matty Eisenhuth failed his HIA, so yeah."
Despite his coach being unsure, Martin, who has played for the Blues in recent seasons and will be in calculations for Origin selection again, said post-game that he will be good to go.
MARTO GOOD: Liam Martin didn’t return in second half with hammy tightness. As for Origin, the great man told me: ‘I’ll be ready to go’🐾🐾
— christian nicolussi (@mrchrisnico) May 25, 2024
With Penrith also missing Nathan Cleary, and Jarome Luai likely to be selected by coach Michael Maguire for Origin 1, the Panthers can ill-afford Cole to be injured.
If he is fit, it's still unclear who would join him in the halves, with Brad Schneider currently injured. Daine Laurie will likely play.
Eisenhuth is guaranteed to miss next week's clash with the St George Illawarra Dragons under the NRL's concussion stand-down rules.
Ivan Cleary will at the very least have Izack Tago and Moses Leota available after the duo avoided suspension despite both being placed on report late during the win over Cronulla.
In the worst-case scenario for Penrith, they could be without Dylan Edwards, Brian To'o, Jarome Luai, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo (Origin), Taylan May (no-fault stand-down), Jack Cole, Nathan Cleary, Matthew Eisenhuth, Luke Garner and Brad Schneider (injury) for the clash.
Penrith will name their team at 4pm (AEST) on Tuesday.
