NSW must present a united front if they are to prevent Dane Gagai from tormenting them again in State of Origin, according to his NRL teammate Damien Cook.
Gagai claimed man-of-the-match honours in game one after a scoring two of the Maroons' three tries and carrying the ball for a game-high 262-metres.
It was yet another dominant Origin display from Gagai, who is now one try away from equalling Billy Slater and Dale Shearer on the all-time Origin tryscorers list.
He has scored 11 tries in as many Origin games.
The South Sydney, who has scored 11 tries in as many Origin games, star enters Sunday's match in Perth two weeks after reports he was keen for a release after being shifted out of the centres at club level.
"Dane's a great player (in the centres), but he does a great job on the wing, too, in both Origin and for Australia," Cook told AAP.
"One thing he does at that level is he takes his chances. He backs himself all the time, which is what I love about him most at club level."
Gagai has been near unstoppable in his appearances for the Maroons.
In 2017, he became the first winger in Origin history to take out the Wally Lewis medal as the player of the series, having run over 500m in total.
In a beaten team last year, Gagai almost matched that feat, including a 200m, six tackle-break effort in their game-three triumph.
Cook said it would take a team effort to stop Gagai from wreaking havoc again.
"He's very strong at running the ball out of his own end, so we've just got to make sure that we defend him together," Cook said.
"And we've got to compete for the ball.
"When they do put those little grubbers in behind the line, we've got to react well, make sure we win the race to the ball because that's what he's so good at.
"He competes right to the end, and he's scored some really good tries right in the corners in the in-goal."
Australian Associated Press
