State of Origin: NSW plan to bash the Maroons in Adelaide Oval ambush

NSW coach Brad Fittler has called a current NRL coach into the Blues camp to join the team, assistant Andrew Johns doesn’t like the change of focus – but he understands why it’s a winning move.

Put your shoulder pads on.

That’s the last thing Andrew Johns said as he turned his head and wandered off Coogee Oval at lunchtime on Thursday.

In his role as attack coach for NSW, Joey, the greatest halfback to have ever played rugby league, wishes it were different.

He wishes he could pull out his A4 notebook, which features page after page of intricate set moves, attacking shapes, plays and trick shots and which wouldn’t look out of place on the chalkboard that Matt Damon used to solve Fourier series maths equations in Good Will Hunting.

Johns could unravel a defensive line like few could. If any at all.

He is rugby league’s very-own, Will Hunting, who didn’t mind a cold beer either.

That’s why he and NSW coach Brad Fittler – a champion in his own right – get on.

When it comes to footy, they think similar because they both have an attack-first mentality.

Remember, they both played the game on the front foot.

(L-R) Blues coach Brad Fittler and assistant coach Andrew Johns talk during a New South Wales Blues State of Origin training session. Picture: Getty Images

It was on their teammates to keep up.

God forbid they missed their assignment.

With Johns at halfback and Fittler at five-eighth for their respective teams, they rammed their footwork, control and tempo, step, kick or pass into the opposition until eventually their rivals were screaming for mercy on the ground.

Yet here’s the quandary ahead of the biggest game of the year between NSW and Queensland on Wednesday night.

Fittler has changed.

Flighty Freddy has been replaced by hard-arse Freddy.

After Thursday’s ballwork session, the ratio of defence work to attack work was around 80-20.

Fittler wants the Blues – and Joey – to put the attack in their pocket and dial-up the defence in Adelaide.

Assistant coach Paul McGregor is the chief of defence for the Blue. Picture: Getty Images

Andrew Johns talks to members of the NSW backline. Picture: Getty Images

“Defence bores the shit out of me, but that’s what wins Origin,’’ Johns said.

“We haven’t done too much in the way of attack this camp.

“Freddy has had a big focus on defence.

“Traditionally game one (of State of Origin) is more of a grind, so it’s all about defence, kicking early, defending and defending and putting pressure on the opposition with defence.

“I’ve seen a harder side to Freddy.

“I’ve seen more of an emphasis on defence and that’s the hardened edge of Freddy.

“Like myself, he is more attack-orientated, but he’s had a real narrow focus on defence and the grind, which isn’t the normal Freddy we laugh and giggle at.

“That’s not the Freddy we’re seeing here behind closed doors.

“I’ve noticed a fair bit of a change.’’

Paul McGregor, one of the more physical centres to have played the game, is charged with leading the Blues defensive line.

At each session, McGregor commands from the d-line.

But there’s no question, Fittler is more hands on in defence than in the past.

Another example of Fittler’s willingness to win Origin one with shoulders was an invitation for Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo to join the side on Thursday.

He is the first NRL coach to be invited into NSW camp.

Ciraldo won two premierships with Penrith as the defence coach and with Canterbury duo Josh Addo-Carr and Tevita Pangai Jr, plus five Panthers, he has worked closely with seven of the current Blues.

Ciraldo spent the morning with the team, keeping an eye on the quirks and traits of those players which he knows best.

The Blues last win over Queensland was Origin II, 2022.

NSW won 44-12 in Perth.

In that win, the Blues kicked the ball more than Queensland, kicked for more metres than Queensland and they missed 15 tackles to Queensland’s 54.

Get your shoulder pads on NSW.