The Newcastle No.1 will come off the bench in his Queensland debut, with Billy Slater expected to return to fullback after missing the series-opening loss with a hamstring injury.

Ponga laughed off the suggestion he could push his childhood hero to the wing once he's injected into the game, but remained tight-lipped when pressed on exactly how he'll be deployed.

"I've spoken to Kev and cleared a lot of things up," the 20-year-old said.

"My role is just to come on, play the way I've been playing at club land and use my skill set and don't shy away from that.

"I demand the ball when I feel like I'm in a position to attack ... if I see an opportunity (I'll do that)."

Ponga admits he was too young to remember Slater's incredible try during his first Origin series, when he too was only 20.

In fact the multi-talented Ponga said he was always too busy to watch much sport at all.

"You fall in love with playing with your mates," he said.

"The best thing about sport is your mates and as a kid you love waking up every morning and seeing your mates and playing soccer or golf or whatever it was."

That humble approach means he cut a relaxed figure at the team's Gold Coast camp on Tuesday.

"I sat down at the beginning of the year and my goal was just to play regular first grade," Ponga said.

"I think I'm ready and I don't think it's come too quick or anything like that.

"It's pretty overwhelming but I'm here and feel comfortable, which is good."

Australian Associated Press