Crichton's MCG Warning to DCE

Johns again raised the incident on the Sunday Footy Show, and encouraged Crichton to respond.

“I actually saw a clip of a bit of cheap shot from Daly,” Johns said. “He got Angus on the ground, so Angus don’t cop that mate.”

Asked about the incident and Johns’ comments at a joint press conference with the rival captains and coaches, Cherry-Evans said he was ignoring outside distractions.

“It’s the first I’ve heard of it, only because this time of year it’s honestly not in my best interests to be watching what you guys talk about,” Cherry-Evans said.

“I don’t mean that out of disrespect, there’s obviously a job for you guys to do to create hype and excitement around our game.

“For me to play my best and to stay focused about the things I can control it’s best to not go into those things.

“I really don’t have a great understanding about what has been said this week, I’m just excited about going out there and playing.”

The tension between the two teams was obvious at the Fed Square press conference after Maguire last week hit back at the Maroons.

“You’ve got to make sure you don’t live in glass houses, that’s all I’ll say,” he said.

Slater said he didn’t believe the comment was directed at him, but Maguire refused to say whether it was or not.

“I’ll let you decide who it was about,” Maguire said. “I guess one thing I do is I look after my players, that’s where it was focused.”

Asked if the Blues again plan to target Walsh, who was the subject of a heavy shot from NSW forward Liam Martin as he kicked at the end of Queensland's opening set of tackles and then hit high by Sua'ali'i, Maguire said: "We put a lot of focus on all their players, so it's not an individual".

"We've had a really good preparation actually. I've really enjoyed obviously coaching the boys and I've got a great group of men, actually, with the way they've gone about the week," Maguire said.

"Like most games, you focus on yourselves, but you're aware of what the opposition do, and you've got to shut that down, so we, across the team, have made sure that we're ready to go."

Slater insisted that Walsh was also ready to play after seeing just eight minutes of action in Origin I at Accor Stadium.

"He's been incredible all week, like he was incredible in his preparation for Game I. He started the game really well in Game I and I expect no different.

"I love the way that he plays, I love the attributes that he has in his game, and I love the way that he works hard to go after it.

"It's been a pleasure to help him do that this week and I'm looking forward to him getting his game on tomorrow night.

"Everyone sees the bright and shiny stuff that Reece brings to a footy field and, and that's what people gravitate to our game for, but he's a really hard worker.

"He's a respectful young man, he wants to be as good as he possibly can, and he wants to play our game. How good's that.

"I've got a lot of time for him and I'm just really looking forward to him playing his part in our team."