The New South Wales Blues have called Matt Burton into their Game 2 State of Origin squad to serve as 18th man, with Latrell Mitchell once again set to be ruled out through injury.
Canterbury Bulldogs director of football Phil Gould took to his Twitter account on Thursday afternoon to make the announcement, which will also see Burton miss this Sunday's crucial clash with the Cronulla Sharks.
The NSWRL have since confirmed Latrell Mitchell will miss the game due to injury.
That would mean Stephen Crichton, who was his replacement for Game 1, will move from 18th man into the centres, with Burton once again occupying the number 18 jersey.
The Blues, who go into Game 2 in a must-win position at Suncorp Stadium after losing at the Adelaide Oval in the opener, were planning to make four changes, with Apisai Koroisau and Nathan Cleary out injured to be replaced by Damien Cook and Mitchell Moses respectively.
The swap to bring Mitchell back in is now no longer required, while the other two changes see Nicho Hynes dropped for Reece Robson, and Tevita Pangai Junior replaced by Stefano Utoikamanu.
The Blues also have injury concerns still lingering over Liam Martin (concussion) and Cameron Murray (groin).
The Sharks and Bulldogs was a game both teams were set to go into at almost full strength, with Nicho Hynes missing selection for the Blues. Josh Addo-Carr was the only other player from either team selected for Game 1.
But Burton, who is crucial to the Bulldogs' chances, has now been called into the Origin squad and as was the case for Queensland's 18th man in Game 1 Tom Dearden, will miss this weekend's game leading into the fixture, with the Blues then set to fly out of Sydney for Brisbane on Monday after preparing at Coogee during the first half of their camp.
Game 2 will be played on Wednesday in Brisbane.