Together they have been the cornerstone of St George Illawarra's stunning climb up the NRL ladder, but at WIN Jubilee Oval on Friday night, Dragons props Justin Poore and Michael Weyman will wage a war within a war.

And to the victor will likely go a NSW State of Origin jumper.

With Test props Brent Kite and Luke Bailey almost assured a start in the NSW engine room for Origin I in Melbourne on June 3, Poore and Weyman are battling it out for what could be just one spot on the Blues bench.

The pair have been in superb form over the opening two months of the season, their reward being named Country Origin teammates in Orange last Friday night just as they were Australian schoolboys partners back in 2002.

The chances of both Poore and Weyman snaring a sky blue jumper seem remote, but Poore on Tuesday denied the pair were working against one another in a bid to further their representative careers.

"I think we play well together, we've got a pretty good relationship and we're having fun playing footy again, obviously that helps a lot," Poore said.

"We don't even talk about it (Origin), we're just trying to battle each other for the first feed.

"We're still young players, we've still got a long way to go, a lot to learn, it's not really on our minds."

Coming into the 2009 season, Poore was considered a possible Blues bolter after representative selectors showed they were keeping an eye on him following his inclusion in a preliminary Kangaroos squad ahead of last year's World Cup.

Weyman on the other hand was starting afresh at the Dragons as he attempted to get his career back on track following several seasons at Canberra which were ruined by injury and suspension.

But such has been Weyman's form under new coach Wayne Bennett that the 24-year-old now has his nose in front of the likes of Poore, NSW incumbent Brett White and Wests Tigers big man Keith Galloway for a sky blue jersey.

Weyman is fourth in the NRL in average metres for front rowers at 129 per game, the only players ahead of him being Bailey and the Australian Test combination of Steve Price and Petero Civoniceva.

Sitting just behind Weyman is Bulldogs prop Ben Hannant while Poore is back in 16th at 113 metres per game, Poore admitting the tussle with Hannant and his teammates would be a good challenge for the Dragons pack.

"They've always got a really good side and it's always been a really good battle between us and I don't think it's going to change this weekend," Poore said.

"I actually played schoolboys with him (Hannant) ... he's a really good player and he's been a very consistent player over a number of years."

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