Josh Papalii is better known for his big hits than his endurance, but the Canberra Raiders enforcer believes he has enough fuel in the tank to kick-start Queensland's State of Origin bid and continue his rugby league marathon 48 hours later.
Papalii faces a gruelling schedule of three games in nine days across three different cities when he plays for the Maroons before jumping back into the Green Machine camp.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart will monitor Papalii's Origin workload before making sure he's ready to face Manly at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.
The two-games in three days is part of an exhausting month that will finish in Brisbane next week when Papalii notches almost 10,000 kilometres to be at his damaging best.
Papalii is content with his role on the Queensland bench despite being in the unusual situation of having started in the Australian forward pack less than a month ago.
"I've come off the bench for all [four of] my games for Queensland and to be honest, it doesn't matter for me," he said.
"I play second row for club, but Kevvie [Walters, Queensland coach] obviously picked me to play front row, hopefully I get a bit of [game] time and do the job.
"It [playing prop] should be alright, you've just got to make more tackles repeatedly but that shouldn't be a factor at all."
Papalii is one of three players on Queensland's bench who represented Australian in the 16-0 win over New Zealand, alongside Michael Morgan and Josh McGuire.
"Obviously the majority of us got picked in the Australian squad a few weeks ago and it makes it a lot easier to connect in this short time," Papalii said.
Papalii is no stranger to backing up after the hype of the Origin cauldron. Canberra's sole Origin representative will speak with Stuart after the match on Wednesday night before making a call on his hopes of playing Manly.
It is likely to depend on how many minutes he plays for Queensland, how he recovers and the health of Canberra's squad after Sunday's clash with Canterbury.
After Origin III last year, Papalii played two days later in Canberra's home win against Newcastle and it has given him confidence he can repeat the dose.
"We haven't spoken about it yet, I need to get through [Origin I] and see how the boys pull up after Sunday," Papalii said.
"I'd rather be playing more footy than less, but when that situation comes up we'll take care of it then.
"Last year [against Newcastle], the boys were on that night and we had a good win.
"I pulled up alright [after the Knights game], I didn't play big minutes in Origin so that made it easier."
Although Papalii has been outstanding this season, the Raiders have the luxury of playing Sia Soliola in the back row if they opt to rest Papalii.
"Obviously it shows we have a lot of depth, it's time to start clicking some wins together and show why we're a massive force in this competition," he said.
Papalii was dropped after a quiet performance in Origin I in 2014, but was recalled for Queensland's record breaking 52-6 win in last year's series decider.
He scored a first-half try when the result was still in the balance, and said he never doubted he could work his way back to Origin.
"I was pretty determined to get back," he said. "I knew what was holding me back from that [level], we worked hard over the off-season and I'm happy to be here.
"Obviously running off JT [Johnathan Thurston for his try], nine times out of 10 he's going to make the right decision.
"Playing outside class players like that, all I had to do was put the ball down."
AIR PAPA
Papalii's 20-day journey
Tuesday, May 17: Travel from Canberra to New Plymouth, via Sydney and Auckland, for Warriors match – 2651km
Sunday, May 22: Travel from New Plymouth to Canberra, via Auckland and Sydney – 2651km
Monday, May 28: Travel from Canberra to Gold Coast for Maroons camp – 901km
This week: Travel from Gold Coast to Sydney for Origin I – 686km
Thursday: Travel from Sydney to Canberra – 240km
Next week: Travel from Canberra to Brisbane for Broncos game – 935km
Next Friday: Travel from Brisbane to Canberra – 935km
TOTAL: 8,999km
