Melbourne prop Christian Welch believes he's ready for a State of Origin debut as Queensland mull over their forward options.
Welch is considered a contender to snare a spot on coach Kevin Walters' bench, fighting it out with the likes of Jarrod Wallace, Tim Glasby, Dylan Napa, Joe Ofahenguae and Matt Scott for two interchange roles.
That race could be flung even further open if lock Josh McGuire succumbs to a calf injury just a month out from the June 5 series opener.
But with Welch getting a taste of Queensland camp last year, he says the time was right for him to make a step into representative football.
"I think I'm ready," the 24-year-old said.
"I love going out head-to-head with the best props in the game and obviously State of Origin, that's one of the pinnacles of our game.
"Particularly through the middle it's such a tough contest.
"I certainly think I am ready to play, but we've got a lot of talent in Queensland coming through the ranks.
"And there are a lot of proven performers like Matt Scott at the Cowboys who has had such an illustrious Origin career."
Welch was a member of Walters' Emerging Origin squad last summer, and has started ahead of Kiwi prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona for the past two weeks at Melbourne.
But the off-contract forward has the disadvantage that Melbourne's depth and forwards strength means the 36 minutes he is getting a game this year is far less than his rivals for the bench spots.
"It's still frustrating," he said.
"Of course I would love to try and play a bit more and put my name forward for other things.
"But being at such a successful club and with such a successful forward pack, it's a bit of a trade off because obviously we have had a lot of success."
That success and the players around him could also help Welch's cause, given he's played two grand finals among his 68 NRL games.
At least three other Storm players look set to be in the Maroons squad, while the faith in the Melbourne system was most evident two years ago when Glasby was called up.
"Just seeing Cameron Smith who has done it all out there in the paddock doing extras, it inspires younger guys who haven't tasted those heights to work hard and improve," Welch said.
"I think I've got a really good grounding, so hopefully."
