Camp focus fully on the footy now
THERE’S nothing like heading into State of Origin camp.
Earlier this week I was lucky enough to be again included in the Maroons squad and I’ve got to say the excitement of first walking into camp was as strong as ever.
I can easily remember what is was like to be part of my first Origin camp and the same emotions were there, and it’s always a privilege to be part of such an amazing team.
Things in Origin camp started off pretty quickly and we mainly did promotional work for the first couple of days in Brisbane.
We then headed over to Sanctuary Cove on Wednesday and from Thursday onwards it’s been like preparing for a normal footy week in club land, so everything is more focused on footy now.
Some big news broke earlier this week that my Cowboys teammate Johnathan Thurston ruled himself out of next week’s series opener and obviously it was very disappointing.
JT told the group earlier and it was an emotional time, but playing 36 Origin games in a row is an amazing achievement.
The group has full faith that Anthony Milford will now step up and do the job at five- eighth and personally I believe he is ready.
I know there was a bit of talk about me maybe playing at No. 6 but I know what’s going on in- house and nothing has changed, so I’m looking forward to playing my role off the interchange and I’m happy to play wherever I’m needed.
Apart from Johnno we will be without some other great Queensland players like Matt Scott and Greg Inglis, but other blokes have an opportunity now and we still have plenty of experience.
Long serving players like Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Nate Myles have many Origin games under their belts and they will provide great leadership for us.
Today we have a day off before everything really starts up and I can’t wait for the big game.
Congratulations have to go to Gavin Cooper for re- signing with the Cowboys for another two years.
Coops is a tremendous player and person to have at the Cowboys, and he’s been doing an outstanding job leading the team around with Thumper and Johnno out of action.