Farah a Certain Starter for Origin II

NSW hooker Robbie Farah has declared himself a certain starter after being named in the Blues team on Tuesday for their must-win State of Origin clash in Melbourne.

The return of skipper Paul Gallen and winger Brett Morris were the only two changes made by coach Laurie Daley after their series-opening loss in Sydney.

Prop Andrew Fifita and winger Daniel Tupou were axed.

Farah hasn’t played since injuring his left shoulder in their series-opening loss in Sydney and has been undergoing round-the-clock physiotherapy for the past three weeks.

“It’s a lot better than what it was a few days ago and feeling really good,” he said.

“I saw the medical staff here last night and they’re happy with where I’m at at the moment. It’s all systems go.”

Farah feared missing game two after his shoulder initially failed to respond to radical treatment, but said there had been signs of improvement over the past two days.

The 31-year-old will be monitored early in the week before returning for full sessions on Wednesday.

“It was pretty frustrating the first 10 days or so because I wasn’t seeing much progress in the shoulder,” he said.

“To be honest I thought I was no chance, the way I was feeling on Friday or Saturday.

“But the last 48 hours, I’ve seen some massive improvements and woke up yesterday morning feeling really good.

“Went down to training at the Tigers, got some physio and was passing the ball and doing different sorts of tests and came through okay.”

Gallen and Brett Morris came through unscathed in their respective comeback games from injury last weekend.

The Blues captain denied he was heading to Melbourne underdone, but admitted he probably wasn’t going to play 80 minutes.

“You saw my performance on the weekend, and fitness isn’t an issue for me,” he said.

“I look after myself. I’m not concerned with that at all.

“I probably won’t play the full 80, no.

“But I’m confident in my ability and my fitness at this level and I’ll do whatever Laurie needs me to do.”

NSW: Josh Dugan, Brett Morris, Josh Morris, Michael Jennings, Will Hopoate, Mitchell Pearce, Trent Hodkinson, James Tamou, Robbie Farah, Aaron Woods, Beau Scott, Ryan Hoffman, Paul Gallen (capt). Interchange: Josh Jackson, Trent Merrin, Boyd Cordner, David Klemmer.