Inglis more than an Origin handful: Blues

NSW don’t believe they have the wood on struggling Greg Inglis, amid reports Queensland coach Mal Meninga will play the Maroons’ superstar on the wing at times to get him more involved in State of Origin II.

By his high standards, Inglis had a forgettable match last month in the Maroons’ Game I win. The South Sydney fullback did battle illness in the lead-up to the series opener in Sydney, but has failed to make a line break in more than 400 minutes of Origin football.

Blues centre Josh Morris has consistently blunted Inglis’ effectiveness at interstate level in recent seasons. However, he knows he will again have his work cut out for him on Wednesday at the MCG.

“You can never say you have got a player like GI covered,” Morris said on Saturday at the Blues’ Coffs Harbour base.

“It is my job to limit his opportunities and the way we do that is by working as a unit, working hard from the inside to try and cut down the time the playmakers have to play to him.

“I certainly enjoy playing against him. It brings out the best in me, but you can never, never bag him and I won’t do that.

“It’s good to know that I am doing a good job but the moment you lapse, you get found out. Johnathan Thurston will certainly come down our side, they targeted us a fair bit in Game I and I know they will do so again.”

Morris says it is crucial the Blues control the ball better at the MCG than in Origin I, so they don’t give the Maroons repeated pointscoring opportunities.

“We have to respect the ball more. If we can go set for set and not give them all that ball, you will see a lot more attack from us,” Morris said.

“You saw a little bit of that in Game I and we need to make sure we are getting the ball a lot and making them tired and having them make decisions with their defence as well. We can certainly ask a lot more questions of their defence, that is for sure.”

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