Bulldogs playmaker and proud Queenslander Moses Mbye says a chance to visit the Queensland dressing rooms after their Origin One win have opened his eyes as to how tight-knit the all-conquering Maroons squad is.
The Noosa Pirates junior was involved in the emerging Maroons camp at the start of 2016 but revealed an invitation from new Queensland coach Kevin Walters to be a part of the post-game celebrations in Sydney three weeks ago was a real eye-opener.
"I spent a bit of time up there with Kev earlier in the year and it was quite a good experience. I was lucky enough to go along to Game One with the boys and have a look around the sheds and stuff and Kevvie's a good bloke," Mbye said.
"Us Queenslanders, we stick tight and look after each other which is good and I was fortunate enough to do that in Game One. He showed me around the sheds which was nice after a win."
Asked what he took out of the experience, Mbye said the biggest thing was how tight-knit the playing group is.
"They all seem like they're best mates, it's like playing for their club side – they played together for that long it's like building up a club side so it was good to see the connection and bond they have," he said.
"I guess for them, any winning dressing room is a fun one, a happy one, you know."
Ahead of Wednesday night's clutch Origin II at Suncorp, Mbye said he was hoping to see the series wrapped up.
"I guess if you're a Queenslander everyone's pretty excited, we're one-nil up and looking forward to hopefully going two-nil up tonight and taking the series out but it's going to be a tough game," he said.
"The Blues went up there [in 2014] and beat them up there so if they can do that it sets up a good Game Three."
Mbye's Bulldogs will this weekend face a Brisbane side that – injury permitting – will feature six players backing up from Maroons duty. Mbye expected every one of them – Darius Boyd, Corey Oates, Josh McGuire, Sam Thaiday, Matt Gillett and Corey Parker – to play and play well at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.
"We're expecting those boys to back up and have real big games. Corey Parker's announced his retirement, a little bit of motivation for the boys to send him off on a good note so I'm sure they'll be jumping out of their skin also," Mbye said.
"Those Broncos boys are experienced in backing up. They know what they've got to do and there's no doubt they'll back up fine and turn up and play some quality football."
