The legacy of polarising Queensland great Nate Myles and a determination to find another gear are driving Maroons lock Patrick Carrigan ahead of the MCG clash with NSW.
The 26-year-old Brisbane powerhouse will play his eighth consecutive State of Origin match on Wednesday night and is yet to lose a series while playing for the Maroons.
Myles is the team manager and mentor of the forwards in camp.
He played 32 Origin games from 2006 until 2017 in what was a golden era for Queensland. Myles was tough, uncompromising and did his job with no fuss and plenty of impact year after year.
In Carrigan, short and sharp speaking Myles sees a kindred spirit.
"Patty Carrigan is always great in this arena. In regards to what he can do on the field, If he keeps going like this, he will be a destroyer," Myles said.
Having Myles in camp is a constant reminder to Carrigan about what it means to be a Queensland forward. Myles gets under the skin of NSW like few other former Maroons.
He once famously wrangled with former NSW captain Paul Gallen and earned the ire of the Blues in game one of this year's series when he sprayed Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii when he was sent off for taking out Reece Walsh.
In Maroons camp he is regarded as a great.
"Nate keeps our job simple and he's about competing hard in the middle and making sure we turn up for each other. He has been massive," Carrigan said.
"Guys like him and Petero (Civoniceva) have played 30-plus Origin games in the middle. It's pretty special."
Carrigan's Origin record is phenomenal. In seven games he is averaging 164m in attack and making 38 tackles per match. Like Myles in his pomp, Carrigan is not resting on those numbers.
Maroons coach Billy Slater is also integral to driving his quest.
"I have some more gears yet and hopefully I can keep slowly chipping away and get better," he said.
"It is just the quality around what I do in the little things. I can keep improving whether it be my running game or bringing out some of my skill attributes in this arena.
"In saying that, you can't overthink it. It's a tough game of footy too."
"I really enjoy coming into this environment and learning from guys like Billy. He is always pushing me to be better and he keeps me accountable in those little things that I take back to clubland."
Despite winning 38-10 in game one in Sydney, the Maroons were far from satisfied.
"I don't think our footy was consistent. We really swung in and out of that game," Myles said.
"We had a style of football we wanted to play but we didn't execute it right."
Canberra Times
