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Clearly Dylan Napa is no fan of Sunday State of Origin.
The fiery Queensland prop is ruing the limited seven day preparation for the must-win Origin II in Sydney as he races the clock to prove his fitness on Wednesday.
Napa must show he has overcome an ankle injury at the Maroons’ first official training session in order to play at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
Usually Napa would have the luxury of a 10-day camp to overcome any fitness concerns before a Wednesday night Origin.
However, the decision to hold a Sunday Origin for the first time since 2001 has ensured only a week-long Camp Maroon on the Gold Coast ahead of game two.
Coach Kevin Walters also wants a fully fit team to work with from Wednesday after a disruptive game one build-up in which Billy Slater (hamstring) was a last minute withdrawal amid three other injury scares.
“It would have been nice if the Origin was on Wednesday to give me a couple of extra days,” Napa said.
“It’s the first Sunday Origin I have heard of, what can you do?”
Napa said he limped off in Sydney Roosters’ 32-6 NRL win over Penrith on Friday after aggravating a syndesmosis injury that sidelined him for two weeks last year.
He was nervous when he went for scans but Napa was quietly confident of proving his fitness.
Melbourne’s Tim Glasby is on standby.
“At the time it felt exactly like it did last year when I missed two or three weeks,” Napa said.
“I was pretty nervous when I was getting scans because it felt pretty similar but it turned out not too bad.”
Napa said he had just 12 hours’ sleep in the past 72 hours due to around-the-clock icing and physio on his troublesome ankle.
“I had a similar injury last year and just reaggravated it. It happens quite a lot – it is just bad timing,” he said.
“Fingers crossed I will be there on Sunday.”
Glasby had no idea whether he would earn his third Origin cap this weekend.
“It’s a bit different to what I am used to. Most weeks I go into a game knowing I am definitely playing,” Glasby laughed.
Slater is also expected to have his hamstring tested on Wednesday after his game one no-show but Walters has all but guaranteed the veteran fullback will play.
Meanwhile, North Queensland winger Kyle Feldt has been called into Camp Maroon as a development player.
He will train with the Queensland team on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Maroons will have an opposed training session against the Queensland Residents on Wednesday.
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