All smiles: Wade Graham, Boyd Cordner and Jack Bird share a laugh on Saturday at NSW training. Credit:Getty Images In a hit-out closely scrutinised by Blues medical and high-performance staff, Cordner was put through his paces while the main group went through a field session in their northern NSW base. He had already put in some decent kilometres on an anti-gravity treadmill, but the sprint testing was always going to be the key decider. He appeared to move freely as he upped the speed and acceleration before some directional drills to complete the work. The NSW camp were happy with the results and will now monitor his recovery overnight. But the Blues are bullish Cordner will be the man leading them out on Wednesday night. The session was closed to media after 10 minutes but there were plenty of keen punters peering over fences and through the hession barricades as Laurie Daley put his squad through its paces.

Just try and stop me: Boyd Cordner trains on Saturday in Kingscliff. Credit:Getty Images If there are no secrets in rugby league, there are definitely none in Kingscliff with kids clambering on top of cars to take in training. Daley has enjoyed the luxury of heading into both games with the same 17 and should do so again with Cordner likely to be given the all clear. Tyson Frizzell, the other main injury concern, looks certain to play with a rib injury that will require a needle on the night. Queensland, on the other hand, are missing gun back Darius Boyd (thumb) and champion five-eighth Johnathan Thurston (shoulder). Cameron Munster will be starting in the No.6 jumper and Michael Morgan in the centres as part of a major back-line reshuffle. NSW will up the workload again on Sunday with an opposed session, which stands as the final obstacle to Cordner's inclusion.

NSW back-rower Wade Graham said his skipper had been in good spirits throughout the camp and he expected Cordner and Frizell to be on deck for the most-anticipated game of the rugby league calendar. "Boyd is in good spirits," Graham said. "That's a positive. Fingers crossed he gets through [training] and feels good. Friz is in some pain but come Wednesday night, when he gets needled, he'll be all right. "He's carried that injury for five or six weeks now. He's picked up little things around it, but he's shown he can play with that." Graham said Cordner, who was critical of his own performance in game two but has enjoyed an outstanding series in the back row, gave the Blues an extra dose of confidence as they prepared to cross the border in coming days. "He's our captain," Graham said. "It's not a role they give to people lightly. He has it for a reason. He has a great presence around him, a quiet confidence that he instils in the people he plays with.