Queensland Maroons second rower Felise Kaufusi may miss the State of Origin decider as he makes a trip to the United States to be with his father.
Kaufusi has already left Australia and was ruled out of Melbourne's clash this weekend with the Manly Sea Eagles on Tuesday.
There was no immediate timeline provided by the Storm surrounding when he is likely to be back in the country, however, it has now been revealed there will be no rush, and that the experienced Dolphins-bound edge forward could miss the decider.
Melbourne Storm football boss Frank Ponissi said it was too easy to make a call.
“It’s far too early to make a call," Ponissi told News Corp.
“Felise has just landed in LA so we won’t know until another few days on when he will be back.
“I spoke to Billy this morning and like the club, he is totally supportive and extremely empathetic of Felise’s position so he will be granted time before any decision (on playing Origin) is even considered.”
Kaufusi has played 165 NRL games and 14 Tests for Queensland since he made his debut at Origin level in 2018, becoming a permanent fixture of the Maroons squad.
Complicating matters, even if he was back in the country by July 13, is that Origin camp will start on Monday morning for the decider, a timeline Kaufusi is unlikely to have returned for.
It puts his spot in the side very much in doubt, with the chance Jeremiah Nanai will be called up to start for the Maroons after spending the opening two matches of the series playing from the bench.
The experienced Jai Arrow could also be parachuted into the starting side for Kaufusi after playing from the bench in Game 2, while other options include Dragons' forward Jaydn Su'A and Beau Fermor, who was in the 22-man squad for the second game of the series.
David Fifita is also set to return for the Titans this weekend and could be another option to fill the void.