First it was the Coach Whisperer.
Now captain Daly Cherry-Evans has emerged as the man who has instilled belief in Queensland ahead of Sunday’s State of Origin II in Perth.
Maroons coach Kevin Walters on Saturday described Cherry-Evans as the “perfect captain”, claiming the halfback would be their inspiration behind sealing a series win at Optus Stadium.
Ahead of the series opener, mind coach Bradley Charles Stubbs was the man on everyone’s lips in Queensland camp.
Walters copped flak for turning to the self proclaimed Coach Whisperer and was even accused of losing the plot for adopting his “Expect to Win” philosophy by refusing to name his opponents NSW.
While Walters vowed to keep using Stubbs’ controversial approach after their comeback 18-14 game one victory, it seems he has discovered a new talisman for Origin II.
Walters said Cherry-Evans had sparked the Maroons’ unshakeable belief they could seal their 12th series win in 14 years on Sunday night.
“The belief in this team is something else, it has gone to a new level this week,” he said.
“They have a lot of trust in themselves and belief in what they can do here tomorrow night.”
Walters said Cherry-Evans had inspired his Queensland teammates by leading them to the Origin I victory on captaincy debut in his first game in five weeks following ankle surgery.
“He’s been instrumental in everything. He was particularly inspirational in game one coming back from the injury five weeks out without a game,” Walters said.
“He’s the perfect captain for this group, to bring them together.
“He’s very articulate, very smart and best of all, he’s a great footballer.
“We haven’t seen the best of him at this level yet, we will see that on Sunday.”
It continues a remarkable revival by Cherry-Evans who only ended a three year Origin exile in game three last year following speculation he had fallen out with the Maroons.
But former Queensland skipper Cameron Smith said he was not surprised by NRL club Manly captain Cherry-Evans’ resurgence.
“As far as the way he controlled the team and controlled the game I thought it was fantastic,” he said of Cherry-Evans in game one.
“We all knew that Daly had that in him, now that he is a more mature person and a more mature player and he’s had the captaincy at the Sea Eagles for several years.
“He was always going to develop his leadership skills and I don’t think there were too many people involved in that (game one) camp or the team that were surprised with the way he handled game one.”
Cherry-Evans was among Queensland’s injury concerns ahead of game two but Walters confirmed there would be no changes on Sunday.
Besides his captain, Walters gave the green light to prop Dylan Napa (broken wrist), centre Dane Gagai (virus) and fullback Kalyn Ponga (calf).
