Together they are the most potent attacking combination that Origin football has ever seen and both have seen their share of controversy but centre Greg Inglis believes spending time in Maroons camp will inspire Darius Boyd to reignite his season.
As the tumultuous year at Newcastle reached something of a head on Friday with Nathan Tinkler relinquishing ownership of the club and one of the players under most scrutiny has been Boyd.
Boyd's 12 Origin tries on the Maroons left wing is second only to his centre partner Inglis who has 15 but in eight games thus far in 2014 Boyd has just one try, one try assist and two line-breaks as his team flounders near the bottom of the premiership ladder.
Such has been his apparent disinterest at club level that questions were asked as to whether Queensland selectors would stick solid but Inglis has no doubt that joining his Queensland brethren holed up in the plush confines of Sanctuary Cove will bring out the best in him on Wednesday night.
"Knowing 'Darbs' I know he puts that aside," Inglis said of the controversy engulfing the Knights. "I remember when I wasn't in great form and had distractions and they still picked me so it just goes to show the loyalty to you.
"It's been shown time and time again that if you're not playing great at your club and they pick you you can come in here and it can reform you.
"I think Darbs is solely focused on what he has to do in camp and what he has to do next Wednesday night and worry about Newcastle when he goes back there.
"Because we've been playing together for so long and so well together we don't really have to say anything to each other. Once you play and get that combination right with someone they definitely know what you want and how you play."
If that warning isn't ominous enough for Boyd's opposite on Wednesday night Brett Morris, his twin brother Josh is tasked with containing a 195-centimetre, 105-kilogram Inglis who is in the best shape of his career.
One tipping the scales at 116kg back in 2009, a switch to fullback with the Rabbitohs and a more strict adherence to his diet has seen him strip 10 kilograms and eye an Origin career that could go into the next decade.
He has canned the Diet Coke and banned bread from his diet and the result shapes as a frightening prospect for Morris who has performed containment duties admirably in the past.
"I'll keep playing until my body's had enough. At my age I could [play until 2020]. If the body holds up fine hopefully I'll get to 2020," said Inglis, who turned 27 in January.
"My heaviest I've ever been at I think was 2009 and I was 116 and I'm 106 now, between 106-107. In saying that, playing at that weight I didn't feel like I was at that weight, I didn't feel like I was that heavy. I was still moving right and that sort of thing, it was just harder on the legs more than anything.
"The things I really cut down were bread and fizzy drink. That's one of the main things that I cut down on and just eating smaller portions throughout the day rather than a couple of big meals during the day.
"It's just really knuckling down on your diet and knuckling down on everything else and working out what works for you. I started out as a skinny kid and got the protein and the weights in and blew out a bit and there were questions about my weight and how I was carrying it and that was probably how I ended up with those injuries when I first joined Souths.
"Now I finally know what works for me and the foods to eat and all that sort of stuff. Not saying I didn't know that in the past but I probably took the easy option so it's really being disciplined with the food you put into your body."
