New South Wales legend Laurie Daley has warned the current Blues outfit not to stir up Queensland ahead of a must-win second State of Origin tie.
His comments came after Maroons coach Billy Slater was riled by a sledge from his counterpart Michael Maguire at Monday’s press conference.
Tensions boiled after game one, when Blues debutant Joseph Suaalii illegally collected Queensland superstar Reece Walsh high and knocked him out just seven minutes into the contest.
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Suaalii was sent off and subsequently banned for four games for the act, but there were later suggestions from Maroons camp that Walsh was targeted on purpose.
When that suggestion was put to Maguire on Monday, he fired back at Queensland with, “You’ve got to make sure you don’t live in glass houses, that’s all I’ll say”.
It has been suggested the comment was directed at Slater and his record of illegal acts during a storied career on the field.
Later on Monday, Slater said he “doesn’t understand the comment”.
On Monday’s 100% Footy on Nine, video was shown of several incidents from game one where Queensland players tiptoed the line in terms of illegal and dirty play.
When given the chance to weigh in on Sky Sports Radio’s The Big Sports Breakfast on Wednesday, Daley refused to give the Maroons any more ammunition.
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“I don’t want to add fuel to the fire, because I think this is what Queensland want and love,” Daley said.
“I’ve been in that situation before when we do it down here and Queensland just thrive off it.”
Daley recalled one saga in particular when he felt like the Queensland bear was well and truly poked before a game.
It was days before the 2015 Origin decider when Nine’s 60 Minutes ran a story about Alex McKinnon’s tragic on-field injury when playing for Newcastle against Melbourne.
Then-Storm and Maroons captain Cameron Smith was implicated in the story, supposedly leading to Queensland firing up like never before.
Daley was sitting in the Blues coaches box to watch his team lose 52-6.
“I remember walking into the stadium and it was just different,” Daley said.
“The Queensland media started to get behind Cameron Smith then. But the NSW media were just absolutely hammering Smith and they (Queensland) just rallied behind him.
“Just the intensity – I never thought an Origin game could get any more intense, but it felt like there was genuine … it was like they thought that NSW had planted the story to come out on that particular day.
”And I’m telling you, that was different. We got our bum smacked and there wasn’t one Queenslander in that team that was going to back down or not give it their best or be committed or whatever word you want to use.
“I’m telling you, that was a game where they just wanted blood. Not only the team, but the fans.
“I remember sitting in the coach’s box, and mate, you’d see their eyes, and they were banging on the window … it was different.”
Queensland holds a 1-0 series advantage heading into game two in Melbourne next week.