NSW coach Laurie Daley has warned the Blues to brace for a wounded beast in State of Origin II in Sydney on Wednesday week.
The Maroons have been accused of hitting the panic button after making seven changes to the side humiliated 28-4 on home soil in Brisbane in the series opener.
Daley, in contrast, is the first coach in 21 years to have selected the same NSW line-up for two games straight.
But he is anything but complacent, reminding his troops – just in case they didn’t already know – that Queensland recalling superstar fullback Billy Slater and 10-times series-winning half Johnathan Thurston spells danger.
“Any team that brings back two future Immortals are always a better team,” Daley said on Fox Sports’ NRL 360.
“Queensland, they weren’t at their best in game one but with these two guys around, they’ll certainly be a lot better than they were.”
Daley expects the Maroons to grow an extra leg with their champion spine reunited at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.
“When you look around the dressing room and you see Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Johnathan Thurston, you know you’ve got your world’s best,” the Blues coach said.
“(Teammates) will look at it and think ‘if everyone in our team does their job, they’re the icing on the cake’.
“I also know they’ve probably got a lot more leg speed in the middle.
“So it’s a dangerous team and a team that’s a lot quicker than the first team that was selected and we face a lot more challenges, most definitely.”
Daley also suspects the Maroons’ bruised egos will be a factor as the the Blues strive to clinch only their second series win since 2005.
“This Queensland team have been battered by the media and they’re far too good to be copping the criticism without being hurt,” he said.
“So we know what to expect. We know that they’re going to come at us and we’d be silly if we thought we didn’t have to change because we’ll have to be a lot better and clinical in what we do.”
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