CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
With just 24 hours until the Maroons squad arrive in Brisbane to begin the high-knees, coach Kevin Walters is making sure everything goes to script.
With a list of notes provided to him by the mythical ‘Coach Whisperer’ – Kevin is making sure that no one in the Queensland camp refers to the opposition side by name, except for Cherry-Evans, but that was a mistake.
Walters has adopted the iconic “Expect to Win” philosophy ahead of Origin I after attending one of his $5500-an-hour sessions in May.
As a result, Walters has since discarded the Maroons’ traditional underdog tag, by claiming Queensland “will win” the opener – and refusing to allude to any fake injuries in their squad.
All Queensland players and staff have been banned from mentioning the Blues ahead of the match, even threatening them with fines.
However, that makes day-to-day activities quite difficult for the Queensland Coach.
Sitting at home today in his beautiful stilted timber Queenslander just downstream from the Moggill ferry, Walters struggled with his usual pre-Origin guitar-strumming ritual
A renowned Johnny Cash fan, Walters was forced to sing a slightly reworked version of the iconic Folsom Prison Blues.
The pre-Origin-version “Folsom Prison [The Opposition]” is rewritten to remove all reference to the Blues and to not look anyone in the eyes while singing.
“You just get used to it” says a relaxed Walters, while adjusting the truss rod.
“After this I might try my hand at a bit of Elvis”
“I’ve just learnt the lyrics to [Our Opponents] Suede Shoes”
After that, Walters says he likes to put on a movie before bed.
“Maybe a bit of Paul Walker” he says.
“I really like ‘[Our Biggest Challenge] Crush’ with him and Jessica Alba”
