It is surprising to some that after six series victories in a row, Queensland can still come into a game under more pressure than the Blues, who are desperate to not let the domination continue. But here we are, the Maroons have had to name a 20-man squad due to a number of key injuries and their once all-conquering forward pack is now being tagged as past its prime.
Queensland forward David Shillington talks to NRL Daily from inside the Maroons camp to put a stop to the doubters who say the NSW forward pack have it over their northern counterparts.
“Mal has definitely lifted the intensity of this camp,” Shillington said. “It’s been suggested the Blues have it over us and we addressed it before our boxing session, and we all agreed we have to step it up a level. We pride ourselves on getting the most out of our preparations.”
Firing up the team before a boxing session could be a sign of how things will play out on the field, with Shillington standing firm on talk of an old-fashioned dust up. “I’d like to take down a front-rower to be honest, any forward. We’ll wait and see what happens.”
Giving Maroons warhorse Petero Civoniceva a winning send-off will be added motivation for the team. And on the subject of Matt Scott, Shillington believes he will play. “I reckon he’ll be pretty keen, it’s not something you want to miss out on.”
Back in the studio, retiring Eels forward Nathan Hindmarsh phones in and gives the boys his secret to his great form and also responds to our Toyota NRL Dream Team expert, Rob Bruns, who pre-emptively encouraged Dream Teamers to trade out the Parramatta legend.
All this and more in tonight’s edition of NRL Daily, so tune into NRL.com at 7:00pm.
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