NSW are on the lookout for a new five-eighth after scans confirmed Jamie Lyon will be sidelined for at least two weeks with an ankle injury.

Manly co-captain Lyon has a syndesmosis injury in his right ankle and will be unavailable for 2-3 weeks, a scenario which will almost certainly rule him out of the Blues side for Origin II on June 16.

A two-week lay-off would leave him with a maximum of three days training with NSW, a situation chairman of selectors Bob McCarthy said was untenable, and the makeshift playmaker now needs a miracle recovery to make the side.

Centre Timana Tahu was given until the Friday before Origin I to prove he'd recovered from a leg injury, training for five days with the side.

Three weeks on the sidelines would definitively rule Lyon out of the must-win Suncorp Stadium showdown.

The NSW side will be named next Monday, with captain Kurt Gidley, Cronulla's Trent Barrett and Gold Coast's Greg Bird all in the frame to wear the No.6 jersey.

Playing Gidley at five-eighth, as the Blues did in the latter part of the 24-22 Origin I loss last Wednesday, would avoid any embarrassment over the captaincy after selectors signalled the time had come to play Parramatta superstar Jarryd Hayne in his preferred position of fullback.

"We'll get a doctor's report next Monday night before (we) do things," McCarthy told AAP on Monday.

"We'll get in touch with his (club) doctor and he'll tell us what's going on.

"We won't get the cart before the horse, we'll see what he's like.

"If he's definitely got no hope, if he can't run until the Monday, well he's no good to us."

Lyon, who was injured and left the field after 49 minutes of Saturday's 24-20 NRL win over North Queensland in Townsville, said the timing had been "terrible".

"We've got a lot to prove so it would be devastating if I wasn't in the team," he told Fox Sports.

"I've still got to get picked but it would be even worse if it was injury."

Shifting Hayne to fullback would open up a wing position, with benchman Jamal Idris a strong chance of gaining a start after his impressive debut.

Canterbury's Josh Morris and Penrith's Michael Jennings also possibilities.

Barrett, a veteran of nine Origin games, would probably have played pivot for the Blues last week if Tahu had been ruled out, with Lyon moving to centre.

The Sharks captain, who was a member of last year's victorious game three side, was drafted into the squad as a shadow amidst reports his non-selection for game one was hotly debated in the selection room.

Bird is a proven performer at Origin level with two man-of-the-match awards from his four games, the last of which was in 2008.

The Blues have signalled their unwillingness to make wholesale changes to the game one side, but the outsiders for the No.6 jersey include Canberra's Terry Campese (one Origin game) and South Sydney's John Sutton.

"Just watching the game the other night, I was just thinking it would be real good if I was out there, but whatever happens happens," Sutton told AAP on Monday.

"If I got a start I reckon I could offer a bit."

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