Queensland have made it very clear to NSW they'll vigorously fight for Israel Folau's right to play in the third State of Origin game in Sydney next month if they go ahead with threats to get him banned.

Hostilities between the two camps deepened on Wednesday when senior NSW and ARL official Geoff Carr revealed plans to gather support for a rule change so Folau, who will switch to AFL next year with Greater Western Sydney, could not turn out for Queensland in the third game in Sydney on July 7.

Armed with legal advice, furious Queensland officials were supremely confident they could convince an ARL board meeting - scheduled the day after Folau plays in Wednesday night's second Origin game in Brisbane - to drop any such moves.

While the QRL may not be opposed to making changes to prevent a similar scenario in future where a player known to be jumping to a rival code is banned from representative football, they believe it's unfair to change the rules in the middle of this year's Origin series.

"We haven't delivered any message to Geoff Carr but we'll be having a very detailed discussion about it next Thursday (at the ARL board meeting)," said QRL chairman and ARL board member John McDonald.

McDonald described Carr's call to ban Folau, based on concerns the third game could be turned into a "circus" by the AFL's publicity machine, as an over-reaction.

"We believe a player should be entitled to play if he is signed-up at the start of the year to play for a club," McDonald said.

"We've had discussions with people and we want to make sure in the best interest of the game and the player that they are able to represent when they can."

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