Slater cuts down fears over ugly Origin blight

Queensland legend Billy Slater has hosed down fears over the State of Origin opener being marred by the milking of penalties, suggesting players will be too afraid of "taking a dive" as so many eyeballs watch on.

Those fears escalated when Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans yesterday called for "a gentlemen's agreement" amid the crackdown on high contact.

Ever since the crackdown on high contact was introduced in Magic Round, the game has been soured by incidents of players staying down to give officials more time to recognise foul play.

But Maroons selector Slater believes the issue is so brightly "highlighted" that players will be deterred from trying to trick referee Gerard Sutton in the Origin arena.

"I think because of the conversation and the commentary we've heard over the last couple of days … Daly Cherry-Evans, Brad Fittler's spoken about it, players from both teams have spoken about this. I don't think we will (see the milking of penalties)," Slater said on 2GB's Wide World of Sports radio.

"I think it will be highlighted too much. There will be 4 million people watching this game so you don't want to be the one that looks like he's taking a dive.

"I don't think it's going to be a big issue."

Slater also said that both players and referees now had a much greater understanding of the ARLC's crackdown on high shots than when it was introduced in Round 10.

"I think the referees and the players are adjusting to how this is refereed and the adjudication of adjustments to the penalties over these rules. I think everyone's working really well together and don't think we're going to have an issue," Slater said.

"If there's forceful contact to the head someone's going to find himself in the bin. So you've got a duty of care to make sure that you're controlled with your defence.

"You're making sure you're aggressive but you're not going over the top. It is Origin and we want to see that physicality, but you can't go taking anyone's head off anymore."

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