Storm centre Justin O'Neill sprints in as cover for Maroons winger Darius Boyd

THE Maroons have drafted in the son of a Vanuatu sprint champion as cover for Darius Boyd, who is racing the clock to be fit.

THE Maroons have drafted in the son of a Vanuatu sprint champion as cover for Darius Boyd, who is racing the clock to be fit.

Melbourne centre Justin O'Neill will fly into the Maroons' Coolum camp today, with first-choice left wing Boyd still in a moon boot with a bruised ankle.

What O'Neill lacks in experience he makes up for in speed. He was rated a future Olympian by his high school athletics coach Yvonne Mullins after he won national titles in long jump and dominated the Queensland sprint titles through his junior years.

As a wiry kid at a Townsville boarding school, O'Neill held the national long jump record in under-15s and under-16s and he jumped nearly 7m as a 15-year-old.

While O'Neill was born in north Queensland, his mother once competed for Vanuatu at the Pacific Games, producing a strong 400m performance.

O'Neill ditched track for rugby league in his senior year of high school and now that call could pay off significantly.

O'Neill is a chance of playing his first Origin match, depending on how Boyd recovers in the next two to three days.

Boyd was thought to be no chance of even being named for the Maroons next week after he left the field in the first half during Newcastle's loss to the Warriors on Sunday.

The initial diagnosis was a potential break but Boyd appeared in good spirits at the Maroons team announcement dinner last night.

"We will give Darius every opportunity to play," Maroons coach Mal Meninga said.

"Hopefully with treatment early in the week he will be OK towards the end of the week."

Mullins said O'Neill could have pursued a track and field career if he chose to.

"They are always going to choose a football career if they can," she said.