June 08, 2008

Darren Lockyer refused to concede he had played his last representative match after another failed comeback attempt on his troublesome knee.

Lockyer rocked the Queensland camp by pulling out of Wednesday night's crucial second State of Origin against NSW with knee soreness.

Gold Coast's Scott Prince, initially overlooked for the two games, will play half-back while Australia No.7 Johnathan Thurston will wear the No.6 jumper.

It's a halves combination Queensland selectors doubted would work before Origin I, but one they've now been forced to pin their series hopes on.

"I trained this morning (Sunday) with the team and it's just not ready,” said a disappointed Lockyer, who has played 27 Origins since 1998.

"It's disappointing ... I can't change it. I'm just not up to 80 minutes of Origin at the moment."

Concerns are mounting that Lockyer may have jeopardised the rest of 2008 by pushing his comeback following a second bout of knee surgery last month.

Asked if he feared his knee issues could be career threatening, Lockyer said he needed to give his knee ample time to fully heal.

He virtually ruled himself out of next month's third Origin in Sydney, which would decide the series should Queensland win on Wednesday night, but remained optimistic about playing again this season.

"I have to be patient with it and let it heal," he said.

"Unless it heals completely, it's just going to go backwards again. I have to make sure I learn my lesson and give it plenty of time to recover."

The Broncos captain admitted the lure of playing in the Centenary Test earlier this year and also the second Origin, had forced him to "roll the dice" and come up empty on both occasions.

However he said neither the Broncos nor Queensland put pressure on him to play on Wednesday night, revealing Brisbane had advised him against playing last Friday night against Parramatta which has set him back again.

Lockyer had three tears in his cartilage stitched and sealed when he had his knee reconstructed last year. But the tiny tear in his articulate cartilage is causing him pain and needs prolonged rest.

While Lockyer will be a huge loss he said Prince would serve Queensland well and not carry any baggage into the match despite being controversially omitted in game one.

"When I knew I was in strife last Wednesday the coaching staff brought in Princey and he's got his head around the plays and our game plan and we haven't been disadvantaged in that regard," said Lockyer.

"He's been playing great all year. He's played Origin before and he knows what it's all about so I've got all the confidence in the world in Scott."

Prince played well in his only three previous Origin appearances in the 2004 series, which included being Queensland's player-of-the-match in his debut.