State of Origin 2017: NSW to target Queensland’s cheap shot king Josh McGuire

QUEENSLAND’S chief cheap-shot merchant Josh McGuire has been warned to expect a torrid opening 15 minutes in Wednesday night’s Origin decider.

McGuire might get some extra attention from the Blues. (Matt King/Getty Images)

SOME of the toughest men to pull on a NSW jersey have warned Queensland’s chief cheap-shot merchant Josh McGuire to expect a torrid opening 15 minutes in Wednesday night’s State of Origin decider.

McGuire has quickly emerged as the Maroons’ most hated player courtesy of his shocking judiciary record — he has pleaded guilty to eight separate charges — and unwanted reputation for ironing out players late.

Blues enforcer Andrew Fifita swatted McGuire away as he attempted several sickening cannonball tackles during Origin II, then had the nerve to give Fifita a verbal lashing in the middle of ANZ Stadium after full-time.

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McGuire might get some extra attention from the Blues. (Matt King/Getty Images)

An angry Fifita said the sledging was “disrespectful’’ and “it’s one of those things, we will bank it and go into game three ready.’’

Former NSW muscle men David Gillespie and Mark O’Meley expected McGuire to come under heavy fire in the opening exchanges from Fifita and his mates in what is shaping as one of the most anticipated Origin deciders in history.

O’Meley recalled “laughing’’ at a young McGuire when he tried to throw his weight around in the NRL as a rookie.

“He’d try to shoot out of the line, do everything, and you’d just dump him on to the ground and laugh at him,’’ O’Meley told The Daily Telegraph.

“He used to mouth off when I was playing.

“When I first played against him, the boys told me he called himself ‘The Big Show’. Anyone who gives himself his own nickname, it says a lot about your character.

“He has developed into a good player.

“He got knocked out playing for the Broncos a few weeks ago early in the game, and they got destroyed once he went off, so you can tell the influence he has on a team. But how do you deal with a rat in your team?’’

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McGuire famously had a rat picture plastered on his Broncos locker last year when it was suspected he had been leaking information to the media.

He had a big sulk and almost came to blows with a teammate at a Red Hill training session.

Gillespie, who wore the tape around his head like McGuire but would have cut him in half when he was playing, told The Daily Telegraph: “He (McGuire) has got a fair opinion of himself.

“I’m sure what was said after game two is in the memory bank, and those first few minutes they will be out to get him.’’

McGuire has faced internal trouble at the Broncos. Photo: Peter Wallis

Fifita has been gagged in the lead-up to game three, with some Blues officials disappointed he spoke publicly about the post-match Queensland sledging.

McGuire was already on the nose with Blues players from last year when he tweeted “losers have meetings winners have parties’’ after the Maroons clinched the series.

While this series has been starved of genuine hatred, the potential McGuire treatment could finally reignite the interstate hostilities.

McGuire came under fire last year on social media when he launched his arm into the head of Panthers flyer Josh Mansour, well after he had been tackled during a club game at Suncorp Stadium.

Johnathan Thurston will be given a fitting farewell from the Origin arena, a brilliant reception that McGuire could only ever wish for.