JOHNATHAN Thurston has thrown a scare into the Queensland camp, with the star playmaker failing to finish training at Sanctuary Cove.

The Maroons’ preparations for Origin III on Wednesday night suffered a jolt when Thurston hurt his knee in an opposed session against the Queensland Residents.

The incident occurred about 20 minutes into the session, which was conducted at high intensity. Thurston stayed down briefly before leaving the field to speak to veteran doctor Roy Saunders and Maroons trainers.

The Maroons pivot told skipper Cameron Smith he suffered a cork from a collision and watched the rest of the session with an ice pack wrapped around his right knee.

It is unrelated to Thurston’s minor injury in Origin II, when he took a knock to his left leg.

With Thurston sidelined, utility Daly Cherry-Evans slotted into five-eighth outside halfback Cooper Cronk, who trained without a hitch.

As soon as training ended, Thurston was taken for treatment while his Maroons teammates stayed behind to sign autographs for fans.

Queensland assistant coach Kevin Walters is confident the Maroons’ senior playmaker, due to play his 30th consecutive Origin game, will be fit to face NSW.

“I didn’t see exactly how he did it, I was too busy refereeing,” Walters said.

“It was just a bump on his knee, it’s a small precaution. He wasn’t exactly carted off on a stretcher.

“It was a collision. He’s got a cork, two knees bumped, that’s what I heard him telling Cameron Smith. He’s a pretty tough fella John, so we’d assume he will be OK. I’d be surprised if it was anything more serious than a cork.”

The Maroons have endured turbulent preparations throughout the series, with Justin Hodges barely training before Origin I.

Queensland were then forced to name an inflated 22-man squad for Game Two as they sweated on several players including Cherry-Evans, who trained just once.

If Thurston plays as expected, he and Maroons colleagues will brace for the Blues to ­deploy more niggling tactics to frustrate the most dominant team in Origin history.

Thurston concedes NSW’s tactical blueprint has worked – and sees no reason for the Blues to resile from attempts to unsettle the Maroons.

NSW’s series-win in Origin II was marred by a series of spiteful moments, headlined by Blueshooker Robbie Farah’s seek-and-destroy mission on Cherry-Evans.

Thurston had a running battle with Josh Reynolds in Game Two and ended up on report after massaging the face of his NSW counterpart.