Queensland could have every right to be feeling confident ahead of Wednesday night's clash against NSW at Suncorp Stadium - but there's no hint of complacency among the playing group.
After an impressive win in the series opener, the Maroons will now go into their fortress with the potential to wrap up the series in front of 50,000 raucous fans.
It will be the first time in many years that Queensland will go into a game as the favourites, with the Blues missing a number of key players including Nathan Cleary and Latrell Mitchell.
Despite the betting markets and rugby league fans installing them as deserved favourites, Maroons skipper Daly Cherry-Evans isn't buying into the hype.
MORE: Where will Ben Hunt play in 2024? Ranking the likely destinations for Dragons star
QLD captain Daly Cherry-Evans shuts down 'complacency' tag
Speaking to the media on Monday, the 34-year-old shut down the notion of 'complacency' among the group and gave a shoutout to his former Sea Eagles mentor in the process.
“It’s a dirty word in rugby league, bloody oath," Cherry-Evans said.
"I’ve always been coached, mainly by Des Hasler – and if you think Des Hasler allows complacency, then you’re kidding. He taught me a lot of stuff and that’s one of them.
"If you have a look at our coach and coaches, they didn’t show much complacency – they are helping us understand how to avoid that. There’s a few things that we can control and there’s certainly a lot of things we can’t.
“We can’t control the narrative that you guys [the media] are putting out there. That’s what makes Origin so good – the headlines, the rivals, those things – I get that now that I’m a bit older, but we can’t control it.
"We’re not allowed to bet on our games, so we don’t know who is favourites and who is not – but it’s all part of the game. We understand why it’s built up the way it is, but it’s something we don’t have an influence on."
Billy Slater has been forced to make a number of changes for Game II, with young trio Moeaki Fotuaika, Jeremiah Nanai and Xavier Coates earning a recall to the lineup.
Cherry-Evans believes the preparation has been on the money for Queensland and wasn't buying into the outside noise regarding the 'seamlessness' of their lead-up.
“That’s just one perception of it – we’re certainly not viewing it as a seamless camp," he said.
"If you’re looking at it as a seamless transition from one game to the next, you’re kidding yourself because you’re going to sell yourself very short to what is going to happen out there on Wednesday night.
"We’ve been training at a level of intensity that we feel is gonna give us a good chance of winning. We’ve had to make a few changes through injury, so it’s not as if we’re just rolling out the same side again.
"We’ve got the new boys up to speed and tried to apply ourselves at training. Origin brings so much speculation and headlines, but ultimately as players, we’re judged on our performance.
"How we perform on Wednesday night comes down to our training habits and what we’re doing with our time away from the footy field... I feel like we have really nailed those two things this week."
Ben Hunt, Cameron Munster expected to stand up for Maroons
Ben Hunt has been front and centre of the rugby league news cycle in the past week, with the Dragons captain seeking an immediate release from his contract.
The tough-as-nails halfback signed an extension at the end of last season, but the ongoing dramas at St George Illawarra have led to a frustrated marquee man.
However, the speculation regarding his NRL future has not hampered his preparation in Origin camp, with Cherry-Evans expecting him to put the noise to the side on Wednesday night.
“You should see him, he’s all over the shop and he’s crying… nah, he’s fine," the skipper joked.
"Ben is 32 years of age, he has been in the NRL for 15 years. He’s a father and he’s a bloody good footy player and he’s a good person and ultimately what he’s going through there, quite frankly, is between his family and the club.
"He hasn’t allowed that distract himself and he hasn’t allowed it to distract the team. If anything, it’s given us something to tease him about."
With the series on the line and a vocal fanbase expected to be cheering him on, Cherry-Evans is expecting the enigmatic Storm playmaker to light up the old Lang Park in trademark style.
“Our expectation isn’t for anything other than Munny to be himself," he said.
"You guys see the vibe he brings to our training sessions and having him around, he takes the energy to a real fun place.
"I love playing alongside Munster – we missed him last year, but we were able to get the job done without him.
"I’m sure he will be as hungry as ever to play in front of the Queensland fans… I’m sure we’ll get the best out of him on Wednesday night."
