Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans wants coach Kevin Walters to be allowed to juggle State of Origin and NRL duties if given the Broncos job.
Walters is expected to be announced Broncos coach this week, with the club legend likely to outgun Paul Green for the role.
That will inevitably lead to questions on if Walters can still coach the Maroons this season, despite re-signing until the end of 2021 in June.
Queensland were handed a blow on Monday with Valentine Holmes entering a guilty plea for a shoulder charge and ruling him out of the series opener.
Walters is already well into planning for managing the Maroons' backline injury crisis for the November series.
He will name the first batch of the Queensland squad on Tuesday afternoon, made up of players who aren't in the finals.
But if Walters stays on coaching Origin, he could be trying to do to full-time jobs at once come mid-November.
While no official date has yet been agreed to for the beginning of NRL pre-season this year, it's believed players will return either the week of Origin III or the Monday after.
And that will put heavy pressure on Walters to step down as Queensland coach, given the repair job that is desperately required at the Broncos.
Regardless, Cherry-Evans on Monday backed his Maroons mentor to be able to handle both jobs at the same time and said he wanted him to stay on.
"If you think about what Kev is going to do (at the Broncos) long-term, what is an extra couple of weeks?" Cherry-Evans said.
"Even if he does get appointed the Broncos job I know how much work Kev has put into this series throughout the season.
"I would love for him to get one more opportunity to coach us and finish with a win."
Maroons great Cooper Cronk also backed Walters to hold onto the Queensland job for the end-of-year series, even if he is handed the Broncos gig.
"Kevvie has put his fingerprints all over making State Of Origin this year under his tutelage," he said.
"Personally I think Kevvie can do both of them."
Wayne Bennett remains the front-runner to take over at Queensland if Walters does have to step down, with Green again the other option.
Bennett's South Sydney won't return to pre-season training until well after the end of the Origin series, given they have played deeper into the season with the NRL's finals.
A move that would again be approved of by Cherry-Evans.
"I have never been coached by Wayne so if he is there I would love the opportunity to play a series under him," the Manly halfback said.
Australian Associated Press
