Afternoon
Origin news

New South Wales coach Graham Murray says he's surprised how quickly halves Braith Anasta and Craig Gower have gelled in the lead-up to the opening State Of Origin rugby league match against Queensland.

Halfback Gower and five-eighth Anasta have played together for City Origin which Murray says is to the Blues' advantage. The pair have been rooming together this week in a bid to get their combination right for Wednesday's series opener at Telstra Stadium.

For the Maroons, rookie forward Dallas Johnson says he won't be going out in Wednesday night's State of Origin rugby league match looking to put a big hit on New South Wales.

However he says if the opportunity arises he'll try and give his team a lift with one of his big defensive hits. Dallas's tackling style has been compared to that of former Queenslander Trevor Gillmeister but the 23 year-old Melbourne Storm forward shies away from such talk.

He says all he wants to do in his first Origin is play well and do the job he does every week for his club. The Maroons have been training at the Hyatt Regency resort at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast. They head to Sydney on Tuesday for the opening game of the series determined to end a streak of 10 games at Telstra Stadium without a win.