No fear here: DCE adamant young Maroons won't be overawed
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Daly Cherry-Evans says there is no fear in his young team as at least eight debutants prepare to play for the Maroons in game one of the State of Origin series.
The Maroons skipper will lead one of the most inexperienced sides in Queensland history and with almost half of them not having played in the arena, there is little for the NSW brains trust to go off when it comes to preparing for how they approach Origin football.
The spine is part of the Maroons makeover with debutants AJ Brimson and Jake Friend playing alongside established halves Cameron Munster and Cherry-Evans.
"There is not as much to review in their video sessions but they are not coming in with any fears which is always a scary thing," Cherry-Evans said.
"I don’t see that as a false reading of what is to come. Everyone is working really hard and we have enough older players in this team, and more so our coaches, to know what is a high level of training and what is not.
"The feedback we are getting is that we are on the right track and it is always comforting to hear that. Certainly it is nice for our young boys to hear that from Wayne [Bennett], Mal [Meninga] and Neil [Henry]."
Match: Blues v Maroons
Game 1 -
home Team
Blues
away Team
Maroons
Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
There is no lack of talent in their squad and the underdog tag sits well with Cherry-Evans.
"That is the way you want it, right? Expectation can do some funny things sometimes in sport," he said.
"We just need to keep our head down and keep working hard. We have a lot of belief in the systems we are applying at training."
Bennett calms young Maroons side
Dane Gagai, who will line up in his 14th consecutive Origin match for the Maroons, said Bennett’s men would not be lacking belief.
"I think his biggest thing is building confidence in his players," Gagai told NRL.com when asked of the Bennett influence.
"He has done everything you can do in the game but the thing I take from him is that you wouldn’t be here if he didn’t believe in you and that you can get the job done.
"[South Sydney development coach] Benny Hornby said it the best. He said that sometimes you can sit down and have a talk with Wayne and you can walk away and not remember what he said, but you feel good about yourself after that conversation.
"He is very direct, straight down the line and he tells it how it is. I guess that is something everyone wants not only from a coach, but from a person."
It is why Gagai believes the inexperienced squad will perform for their coach in Adelaide.
Keep moving with Trbojevic and Munster
"Wayne will be driving how much it means to be able to chuck on the Maroons gear and be in the squad, so everyone will want to go out and do a job for their state and their families," he said.
"Yes, we have a lot of young fellas but watching what they have done throughout the year we know they can go out and do the job."
Meanwhile, the Maroons have been given a boost with the severity of a shoulder injury suffered by rookie Xavier Coates at training revealed to be just a low-grade sprain.
Queensland have announced they expect the young Bronco to take his place on the wing on Wednesday night.
