Meninga still mum on Boyd's Origin hopes Queensland coach Mal Meninga could make NSW rookie Blake Ferguson sweat it out before letting him know his rival for his State of Origin debut at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night. Meninga had planned to make a call on injured winger Darius Boyd (ankle bruising) on Friday but continues to keep everyone in the dark. Melbourne speedster Justin O'Neill, who has prepared to play on the left wing, has been told he will be kept in camp until game day as the team's physios continue to work on Boyd's ankle injury. Meninga clearly doesn't want to give Ferguson or Blues coach Laurie Daley any extra time to brush up on whoever gets the nod. When he injured his ankle last weekend, Boyd looked no hope with O'Neill expected to make his Origin debut. But scans early in the week cleared Boyd of any structural damage and it's been full steam ahead to get him to the post to cash in on his previous 14 Origins which have netted Queensland nine tries - third behind record holder Greg Inglis (14) and former Maroons utility Dale Shearer (12). Queensland officials, meanwhile, debunked suggestions star five-eighth Johnathan Thurston had dashed home to Townsville for the birth of his baby or that he was in any doubt for Wednesday night's clash after missing the team's opposed training session against the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles at Coolum on Sunday morning. Daly Cherry-Evans, who Manly signed from the Sunshine Coast club, trained in his place. Thurston's partner Samantha is due to have the couple's baby any day now but the North Queensland co-captain was in his hotel room battling the effects of a virus which, according to medical staff, was not serious. "John's not feeling too well today so we'll look after him," Meninga told Queensland supporters at a fan day at Moore Park shortly after the team, including Thurston, touched down in Sydney on Sunday afternoon. Meninga said the challenge for his players was to win the first match at ANZ Stadium with the Blues hosting two home games. "We've been there and done it before and a lot of our players have played and won big games there before," he said. It's not easy playing away from home, particularly at Origin level, and NSW have got the jump on us the last couple of years so it's a good challenge to get off to a good start. Queensland captain Cameron Smith was confident Thurston, poised to break former forward Gary Larson's record of 24 successive Origin games, would come good in time to play. He'll be alright. He just felt a bit crook overnight," Smith said. It shows you how tough he is - he's only a little bloke. To break someone like Gary Larson's record, we're all very proud of him and we know he's going to do the job for us on Wednesday.