Daly has Tino’s back in the heat of battle

QUEENSLAND captain Daly Cherry-evans has revealed what he said to Maroons hothead Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in the dressing room footage captured after his Origin punch-up with Blues rival Payne Haas.

Fa’asuamaleaui and Haas were sin-binned during last week’s ANZ Stadium showdown after coming to blows during a second-half melee.

They were sent to the bin for 10 minutes after last Wednesday’s scuffle, with Haas gesturing to Fa’asuamaleaui to have another crack as he walked off the field.

Both players were charged with contrary conduct, but escaped suspension after paying $750 fines for the incident which included a few attempted punches.

After the game, CherryEvans was captured having what looked to be a stern conversation with Fa’asuamaleaui in the Queensland dressing room.

Maroons players have urged Fa’asuamaleaui ( pictured) to maintain the rage in tomorrow’s series-deciding third game at Suncorp Stadium and Cherry-evans said he supported the Queensland lock’s aggressive nature.

“I’ve got his back,” CherryEvans said.

“Maybe not physically out there in the fight (laughs).

“I had a couple of words of support. I’m sure he would have copped a lot of criticism publicly. From my corner it was a bit of support.

“We need people to play their own game. It’s not for me to decide what someone’s best game looks like.

“I do want to make sure I encourage players to play their best game. We need to play our best games on Wednesday night and Tino will be a big part of that.

“If we can keep him there for a bit longer would be ideal.

“At the end of the day, what he did wasn’t the wrong thing. It was what he thought was best at the time.

“There’s not too much to it. I was backing him.” out that