Angus Crichton has sent Daly Cherry-Evans a veiled threat after claims the Maroons captain performed a ‘cheap shot’ on the Blues hard man during the series opener.
The NSW camp weren’t happy with suggestions from Queensland that they had purposely tried to knock out fullback Reece Walsh in Origin I.
Blues coach Michael Maguire accused his opponents of hypocrisy – and Channel Nine found footage of Cherry-Evans appearing to fall into Crichton’s back with knees and push down on his head.
The Blues forward says he knows what happened and won’t be putting up with it this time around.
‘I should have got up and reacted,’ Crichton told NRL.com
‘When I watched the game back I regretted not getting in his face there, but I’ll save it for Game II.
‘That’s life but we will get on with it and get a win in Melbourne.’
Blues legend Andrew Johns also noticed the ‘cheap shot’ and took aim at the Queensland halfback last week.
Angus Crichton (pictured) has sent a warning to Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans
‘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.’
Johns thinks Cherry-Evans will have a tougher time with Latrell Mitchell this week.
‘Daly is on top of his game, but good luck tackling Latrell,’ Johns said.
‘Valentine Holmes is already talking it up saying he will get in Latrell’s face so he is in their heads.
‘The right side of Queensland is a target. The gap between DCE and Holmes, that space between the halfback and centre, that’s where NSW will apply pressure with Angus, Latrell, Dylan Edwards and Jarome (Luai) floating around.
Crichton says he should of reacted the first time and won’t be putting up with that again
When questioned about the controversy, DCE said he wasn’t aware of it.
‘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.’
