NSW enforcer Tyson Frizell has declared the time for talking about Kalyn Ponga over, vowing it won't just be up to him to stop the Queensland superstar in State of Origin I.
Frizell has been cleared to take his place on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium after taking part on Monday in his first contact session of the Blues' preparation.
Until now, Frizell had been kept in cottonwool under concussion protocols after being knocked out eight days ago in a sickening head clash with St George Illawarra teammate Josh Dugan.
He shed the non-contact bib during an opposed training session at the NSWRL Centre of Excellence at Sydney Olympic Park.
He will only have one more run alongside his right-edge teammates during Tuesday's captain's run at Suncorp.
Frizell's build-up has been less than ideal, robbing him of time to gel with right-side partners Nathan Cleary, Josh Morris and Nick Cotric.
It's significant given the Maroons are expected to focus their attack via their left edge through superstars Ponga and Cameron Munster.
The Blues spent part of Monday's session simulating plays that Munster and Ponga were likely to employ on Wednesday.
"They threw a couple of scenarios at us and it was just about getting into the grind of footy," Frizell said after the team touched down at Brisbane Airport.
"We haven't had any sort of opposed work other than edge-on-edge.
"We've done our homework. It's easy to say we know what to do.
"It's just about going out there and doing it now. There's enough talk about those guys. We've got to shut them down and that's it."
The Blues will head into the match as favourites and Frizell says the Maroons are "banking" on Munster and Ponga to spark them to victory on home soil.
The Dragons' back-rower said he was alive to the threats they posed and the team as a collective unit had planned accordingly to shut them down.
"I know they're strike players. They are players you need to watch out for," Frizell said.
"Them two guys aren't going to win it on their own.
"Queensland have been so dominant for so long because they work well together. We need to be on song as a team.
"I can't shut them down on my own. It needs to be a collective effort from the whole team.
"Queensland is probably banking on those two guys to come up with big plays but we'll bank on our whole team to do a job."
Australian Associated Press
