QUEENSLAND is sweating on the fitness of Dane Gagai in the lead-up to State of Origin I in Melbourne after the star centre went down on Tuesday with a gruesome finger injury.

Maroons coach Kevin Walters revealed he would wait on the results of scans due to be carried out on Tuesday afternoon, but is confident Gagai will recover in time for the Melbourne opener.

It comes 24 hours after champion fullback Billy Slater withdrew from the side with a hamstring problem.

LIVE STREAM THE QUEENSLAND PRESS CONFERENCE AT 1PM

Upcoming Matches

Meanwhile Walters said Michael Morgan would start at fullback with Anthony Milford confirmed in the bench spot ahead of Kalyn Ponga, while Ben Hunt is set to shake off a lingering injury to make his first run-on start.

“Gagai came out to train and I expect him to play,” Walters said. “He’s in a fair bit of pain. He finished off the session and we expect him to play.”

Walters hinted that Ponga would be the likely candidate to replace Gagai on the wing if the Souths centre is ruled out, while he shut down speculation that Cameron Munster may shift from five-eighth to fullback.

Dane Gagai seriously hurt his finger at the Queensland captain’s run on Tuesday. Source: AAP

The Queensland coach also mentioned that Valentine Holmes is a capable option on the wing.

Hunt looked laboured in his stride as he ran out for Queensland’s Captain’s Run on Tuesday morning.

But Walters says his halfback is “right to go” and has progressed well during the week from a seriously corked leg that he’s carried for a couple of weeks.

Earlier, The Courier-Mail’s Peter Badel told Fox Sports said that Gagai had “blood streaming from his finger” and that he was a long shot to play on Wednesday.