Maroons veteran Petero Civoniceva holds his spot for Origin II

PETERO Civoniceva will retain his Maroons place - but front-row partner Matt Scott has demanded the pair lift for Origin II in Sydney.

PETERO Civoniceva will retain his place for State of Origin II after the Maroons hierarchy were satisfied with the veteran prop's performance during the frenetic opening exchanges in the series opener.

But Civoniceva's front-row cohort Matt Scott has demanded the pair lift for the return bout in Sydney, admitting the Maroons were caught out by NSW's intensity in the opening 20 minutes of Origin I.

Civoniceva was overlooked by selectors for the trans-Tasman Test after a slow start to the season but Queensland's panel kept faith in the most experienced representative forward in the code's history.

Origin's oldest player at 36, Civoniceva played only 39 minutes in Game One but was busy during his time on the park, managing 20 tackles and 10 hit-ups for 78m.

It is expected an unchanged Maroons side for Origin II will be named on Tuesday and Civoniceva only needs to get through the Broncos' clash with Newcastle at Suncorp Stadium today to secure his 32nd Queensland appearance.

"I don't know if Petero was under the pump with us, he probably was in the press, but there was no pressure from us," Queensland chairman of selectors Des Morris said.

"I wouldn't think there will be any changes. We have a discussion after every game and no one is an automatic selection but they won the game so we're happy with the balance of the squad.

"Petero is a proud man and a good footballer and you don't get the record he has without a pride in your performance.

"I thought he had a reasonably good game. We were all a bit out of sorts in the first 20 minutes, but he made some good yardage the second time he was on.

"I thought he earned his spot and he went well for us. (But) there is some improvement in our squad too.

"NSW were very good and can probably count themselves unlucky, they have put a few questions to us that we would have learned from."

Civoniceva, who plays his 299th NRL game today, is keen to ramp up preparations for Origin II with a rousing performance against Wayne Bennett's struggling Knights.

The Fijian warhorse admitted the fierce opening exchanges in Origin I was the quickest start he had experienced at interstate level since his Maroons debut in 2001 ... "but it was something I expected".

"Mal (Meninga, Maroons coach) was really proud of the way we hung in and once we started getting some ball and momentum we were able to get ourselves back in the game.

"That will be the challenge for us in Game Two. Personally, my focus has been on our (Brisbane's) loss against Melbourne and the challenge ahead for Newcastle and we'll see what happens from there.

"It was a great way to start the Origin series but after that game we spoke as a group about the things we need to improve on. I won't worry about Game Two until my name gets read out, hopefully."

Scott admitted he was taken aback by the frenzied start in Origin I after missing a month of NRL action with a foot injury.

"Not having too much game time lately myself and being injured, it was a shock to the system," Scott said. "But I thought my second stint was a lot better, I settled into the pace of the second half.

Of Civoniceva, Scott said: "Petero always does his job and that's what you get out of him and that's why he was in the side.

"A few times there we were under the pump and he was the first guy to put his hand up for a run."