New South Wales will be sweating on the fitness of Melbourne star Ryan Papenhuyzen after it was revealed the Storm jet could miss the opening Origin match in Adelaide after sustaining a calf injury, per NRL.com.
Papenhuyzen, who has been tipped to man the bench or potentially cover James Tedesco at fullback, is likely to make Brad Fittler's 21-man squad regardless.
Both the Blues and Maroons will cut their 27-man lists on Thursday and then down further to 19 next Tuesday before announcing the 17-man lineups an hour prior to game one.
Tedesco is also nurturing a knee injury as the Roosters No.1 will be in a race against the clock for the series opener, with Fittler potentially without his two fullbacks for the November 4 clash.
The NSW coach is set to make a final call on Tedesco come Saturday.
Papenhuyzen and teammates Josh Addo-Carr and Dale Finucane will join the Blues training camp on Thursday after leaving their Sunshine Coast bubble.
Storm general manager of football Frank Ponissi revealed Papenhuyzen had been carrying the injury for some time, but may have done further damage in last Sunday's Grand Final victory over Penrith.
"Our medical staff had a slight concern with Ryan Papenhuyzen about a calf injury that he has been carrying for a while," Ponissi said.
"He has been carrying if for a while so whether he aggravated it in the grand final I’m not too sure.
"They think he is going to be fine but it just needs to be checked."
Fittler told NRL.com that he will speak to Papenhuyzen midweek and will make any final decisions on the weekend.
