The Coach Whisperer's message may not have gotten through to Daly Cherry-Evans but the Queensland skipper insists the controversial mind mentor has had a positive effect on the Maroons.
Cherry-Evans broke a golden rule of self styled mind coach Bradley Charles Stubbs by mentioning his opposition ahead of Wednesday's State of Origin series opener in Brisbane.
It's a definite no-no in Stubbs' "Expect to Win" philosophy which has been adopted by Queensland coach Kevin Walters ahead of Origin I after attending one of his $5500-an-hour sessions in May.
As a result, Walters has raised eyebrows by ditching the Maroons' traditional underdog tag and claiming Queensland "will win" the opener.
But he has copped most flack for banning his players from mentioning the Blues ahead of the match, even threatening them with fines.
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It didn't stop Cherry-Evans from discussing the threat of Blues debutant prop Payne Haas and committing the cardinal sin of dropping the "n-word" - NSW - on Monday.
Told by the media that he now faced a financial penalty from Walters, Cherry-Evans simply laughed it off.
"It's 20 bucks. I think I will be right," he said.
But Cherry-Evans refused to dismiss Stubbs, saying Queensland had benefited from the "left field" approach as they look to reclaim the Origin title from you know who.
Asked about their curious policy of not mentioning the Blues, Cherry-Evans said: "Don't get me wrong, we certainly haven't disregarded NSW as a side.
"We have done our preparation. Make no mistake we have, but what we have done is just try and make more of an emphasis on our preparation in this camp.
"While it is a little bit of a left field tactic I really do feel as though it has been a positive for this young group.
"We have really narrowed our focus on what we have to do on Wednesday."
NSW critics have had a field day over Walters adopting Stubbs' polarising teachings.
But Cherry-Evans supported Walters for thinking outside of the box.
"He has obviously had an effect on Kevvie. Is it a positive one? In my opinion it is," he said.
"I don't know the bloke (Stubbs) personally but ... Kevvie has come into camp really excited and with a lot of belief in his playing group.
"That is the best part about it. Whatever has been said or done between those two what we have seen is the benefits of a coach who has come in with a lot of belief.
"There is nothing like a coach having your back and our coach has certainly had that from the moment we walked into camp."
