Queensland star Kalyn Ponga is adamant he will be fit for State of Origin III despite being struck down with a calf injury.
The 21-year-old was ruled out of Saturday's NRL match for Newcastle against Brisbane less than 48 hours before coach Kevin Walters' announcement of his side for the July 10 decider in Sydney.
Ponga was treated for a calf injury during Origin II camp and picked up a corked thigh during Queensland's 38-6 drubbing by the Blues in Perth.
He went to bed on Friday believing he would take on the Broncos at McDonald Jones Stadium but was a late withdrawal.
"I don't think I'm in doubt, not at all," Ponga told Fox Sports.
"I'll be sweet. It just pulled up pretty sore after (Origin II).
"But I had a cork that I was focusing on more. Because of the cork, I wasn't using that leg much and then the calf has come through."
Despite his insistence that he will be fit, Ponga will undergo scans on Sunday.
If he was to be ruled out, it would leave the Maroons' No.1 stocks paper thin and bring Moses Mbye and Anthony Milford into contention, while Walters might also toy with the idea of moving Michael Morgan or Cameron Munster to fullback.
"We were monitoring it all week and, even last night, I went to bed thinking I was playing today," Ponga said.
"We had a look at it this morning - it wasn't as good as we had hoped it would be. I'll get scans, hopefully tomorrow, and we'll go from there."
