North Queensland coach Paul Green believes his State of Origin quartet may find it tough to back up for Monday's trip to Newcastle.
Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, Brent Tate and James Tamou have all been named by Green in his squad to take on the Knights at Hunter Stadium.
The four all successfully backed up from Origin I last month against Melbourne in a game the Cowboys won 22-0.
That match was played on a Saturday and Green says the longer wait this time around will actually be more problematic for his representative stars.
"I think it makes it tougher for those guys. The earlier you can play, within reason, the better," he said.
"They certainly played well for us after the last Origin game but having a little bit longer there, a bit more soreness will set in and they might not be as good as they were last time."
Regardless of his concerns, Green has named all four in his starting 13, though he admits that can change depending on what happens in game two on Wednesday night.
"It's tough naming a team with Origin, we really don't know until after and see how they back up," he said.
"Until we see what happens ... I'll worry about that then."
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