Latrell Mitchell is a strong chance of playing Game 2 of the State of Origin series after scans revealed a Grade 1 calf strain.
The injury has ruled him out of the series-opener in Adelaide on Wednesday evening, but an expected recovery timeline of anywhere between one and three weeks should leave him able to return to the Blues' set-up for Game 2 in Brisbane on June 21.
In revealing the news, Fittler told The Daily Telegraph that it was a 'selfless decision' from Mitchell to withdraw from the game, and revealed the decision was entirely down to the centre following the return of scans.
โWe got some scans last night and they said he had a grade one strain,โ Fittler said.
โThat's not dire but it was all going to be based on how he felt and he thought, given Stephen had been here all week (as 18th man), he knew what Stephen could provide, Latrell made the selfless decision to say he wasn't going to be right.
โThe decision was Latrell's. I left it up to him. You could see it in his face and the scans proved to him that there was something wrong.
โIt was good to see him get up in front of the group and explain the situation and give some confidence to โCritter' (Crichton) too.โ
The decision from Mitchell to pull out means he will miss four straight Origins after setting the interstate series on fire in 2021 alongside Tom Trbojevic.
The duo were an enormous part of the series victory for Fittler's side, before they both missed the entirety of the 2022 series, which was won by a new-look Queensland side under Billy Slater.
Mitchell's absence is offset by the return of Trbojevic, who had his best game of the NRL season to date in Round 12 against the Canberra Raiders, earning a last-minute call-up.
The South Sydney centre's spot will be taken by 18th man Stephen Crichton, who was a late callup to the squad after replacing original 18th man Campbell Graham, who was ruled out with injury himself.
The new 18th man is Matt Burton, who could yet come onto the bench if Nathan Cleary is ruled out with an infected tooth - Nicho Hynes, the current bench utility, would start at halfback if that was to be the case.
It's believed Cleary will play however, with the injury said to be causing him pain, but not to the point of being withdrawn from the series-opener.
Game 1 will kick-off at 8:05pm (AEST) in Adelaide on Wednesday evening.
Hardly a “selfless decision”. H knows that to go into a match injured, and play at less than the level expected, would have exposed him to vociferous criticism.
And if he had done that, and the Blues were to lose …