Maroons coach Mal Meninga confident injured winger Darius Boyd will be fit for Origin I

QUEENSLAND coach Mal Meninga is quietly confident injured winger Darius Boyd will play in next week's State of Origin series opener.

MAROONS winger Darius Boyd is an increasingly likely Origin starter as he makes progress with a bruised ankle.

Coach Mal Meninga will give Boyd until Friday to prove his fitness on the ankle he injured in the Knights' loss to the Warriors last Sunday.

Melbourne winger Justin O'Neill arrived on the Sunshine Coast yesterday as a standby player for Boyd, but Meninga is confident the 14-game Maroons winger will run on to ANZ Stadium next Wednesday night.

"He is getting his injury treated. He's a pretty good chance of playing actually," Meninga said.

O'Neill sprints in as Boyd cover

"He has a badly bruised ankle but he's doing everything possible he can to play. We will probably give him until Friday (to prove his fitness).

"We have Justin O'Neill arriving in camp so if Darius doesn't play, Justin gets his opportunity to do Queensland proud.

"The first 48 hours are pretty important, so when we get into camp (last night) we will have a better idea of where he sits and how the bruising is and if the swelling has gone down.

"The medical staff assure me that within two or three days we will know if Darius is a chance."

Meninga had fewer concerns over the fitness of Ben Te'o, who would be available for the series opener despite suffering a corked shin in South Sydney's loss to Cronulla on Monday night.

Hayne, Klein referees for Origin I

Whether the Maroons forward would be available for selection was another matter.

QRL chairman Peter Betros said he hoped the NRL's integrity unit would deliver a verdict this week, possibly as early as today, after looking into accusations by Brisbane woman Katie Lewis that Te'o assaulted her.

"We're governed by what the game will do, we know the integrity unit is investigating what happened and we will make our final judgments when their investigation has been done," Meninga said.

Maroons skipper Cameron Smith said O'Neill, his Storm colleague, would not be daunted by a Queensland baptism if Boyd succumbed to injury.

"He's been in the Emerging Origin squad for a few years," Smith said.

"Justin is a teammate of mine at Melbourne and he had a great game on the wing the other night (against the Roosters). We have our fingers crossed for Darius. Hopefully he gets up, but if not we have a good replacement in Justin."