Campese had his first run since recovering from a virus that badly affected him during Sunday's loss to the Bulldogs.

The 24-year-old, who is the front-runner to play five-eighth for NSW in this year's State of Origin series, has also struggled with a foot injury recently, meaning he has trained just twice in the past fortnight.

It has been a far from ideal preparation for Campese, especially with Country Origin selectors set to name their team for next Friday's clash with City on Sunday.

But with just one game left to rubber-stamp his Country jersey, the form playmaker was confident his absence from the training paddock wouldn't affect his representative chances.

Campese's comments in today's Canberra Times