Queensland hooker Ben Hunt has rubbished NSW great Andrew "Joey'' Johns' claim that Latrell Mitchell has got in the heads of the Maroons.
"He hasn't got into our heads at all. We have done preparation on him, like you would on any good player," Hunt said ahead of game two
of the State of Origin series at the MCG.
"There's a lot of guys in that team who are going to hurt us as well, so we can't just go into a State of Origin match completely worried about one player.''
Johns, speaking to Channel Nine this week, said comments by Maroons centre Valentine Holmes about marking Mitchell suggested the Queenslanders were worried about the inclusion of the South Sydney talisman.
Mitchell destroyed the Maroons the last time he played Origin in 2021 in a 2-1 series win for the Blues.
"Daly Cherry-Evans is on top of his game, but good luck tackling Latrell," Johns said.
"Valentine Holmes is already talking it up saying he will get in Latrell's face, so Latrell is in their heads. It is good.
"The right side of Queensland is a target. The gap between DCE and Holmes, that space between the halfback and centre, that's where NSW will apply pressure with Angus (Crichton), Latrell, Dylan Edwards and Jarome (Luai) floating around.
"That will be the spot they target, especially with Latrell. He is NSW's X-factor."
Hunt conceded Mitchell was on the Maroons' tip sheet.
"He is a huge threat. We know what Latrell is capable of and what he has done in the Origin arena," Hunt said.
"We will have our hands pretty full trying to hang on to him, so we need to be very disciplined in the way we defend him.
"We have to defend him as a team because if we give him any bit of room he is going to hurt us. We need to defend really well.
"We have faith in Val to do his job. He has been playing Origin for a long time now and he will get out there and do his job."
Maroons five-eighth Tom Dearden said the key to stopping Mitchell was to not turn over the ball.
"He is a massive threat," Dearden said.
"With the player Latrell is we have to focus on getting our game right and control possession. It will nullify his impact on the game."
