A nervous wait lies ahead for Cowboys coach Neil Henry after he was told by health officials that he would learn if he had been diagnosed with swine flu on Wednesday - 24 hours after first thought.

Expected to be notified on Tuesday afternoon if he had become the first person in Townsville diagnosed with the illness, Henry will sweat it out with fitness guru Billy Johnstone until Thursday.

"We expect word from Queensland Health then," a Cowboys official said.

Henry and strength and conditioning coach Johnstone were tested for the disease on Monday after showing flu-like symptoms at the weekend.

They were part of the Queensland Origin team that featured Ben Hannant, who has been diagnosed with swine flu.

The rest of North Queensland's Origin contingent - players Johnathan Thurston, Luke O'Donnell and Queensland 18th man Matt Scott - are in quarantine until Thursday.

The players have not shown any symptoms.

Despite the uncertainty leading up to their NRL clash with the Dragons at Wollongong on Sunday night, Cowboys assistant coach Mick Crawley was wondering what all the fuss was about.

He said Thurston and O'Donnell were not expected to return to training until later in the week anyway due to their heavy playing schedule.

"They weren't there the week before either (due to Origin duty) and we hadn't planned to have them here at the start (of the week) - hopefully they will come back fresh on Friday," he said.

And he didn't think much should be read into Henry naming a 20-strong squad for the Dragons clash on Tuesday.

"I think you will find over the last five or six weeks that we have named extended squads, that's based on our good form in the NRL and those (extra bench) guys are playing really well in Queensland Cup," Crawley said.

"I think Neil likes to let the other boys know that they are on notice each week to perform."

Scott did not believe the quarantine measures would affect the Cowboys.

He noted that their Origin contingent came back late last week - and North Queensland still beat South Sydney 46-12 last Saturday night.

"It'll be the same sort of thing, which didn't seem to worry us on the weekend," Scott told Townsville reporters.

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