NSW coach Laurie Daley has pinpointed the need to stay calm and not overburden his players as the key to defeating Queensland on Wednesday in the State of Origin opener.
Daley and Maroons coach Mal Meninga fronted the media on Monday morning in a light-hearted press conference at Rugby League Central in Sydney.
The session was the polar opposite to recent series where Meninga and former Blues mentor Ricky Stuart stretched their long friendship to breaking point by trading barbs in the lead-up to games.
“It’s not my style,” said Daley when asked if he and his rival had exchanged any pointed text messages since he got the job nine months ago.
Daley and Meninga sat side by side but the rookie Blues coach said his approach should not be mistaken for lackadaisical, but merely a new style as his side look to win a first series since 2005.
“One thing I have been really conscious to do, is that I don’t want to overload the players,” Daley said.
“I don’t want to be too near them when they are in their own space.
“I know what it is like when you are a player.
“You have a coach who’s in to you when you’re having a cup of tea and wants to discuss tactics.”
Daley said despite his relative inexperience when it came to coaching, maintaining a distance from the players in the build up to Origin has been vital.
“I want it to be low key when we come to training or have a team meeting and then say `go off boys, enjoy your own space’,” Daley said.
“Because between now and game day that is all you will be thinking about.
“We don’t want to overload them and we don’t want them to play the game now, we want them right at 8 o’clock on Wednesday.”
Meninga said he was confident winger Darius Boyd and Johnathan Thurston would be fit to play.
Boyd is recovering from an ankle injury and Thurston from a virus.
“If I was a betting man, and I am not, I would say they will both play,” Meninga said.