Maroon minder Sam Thaiday has vowed to protect history-making skipper Darren Lockyer from a NSW battering at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night.

With Blues coach Ricky Stuart going outside the Origin square to pick mobile back-rowers, Queensland are bracing for their two game-breakers, Lockyer and Johnathan Thurston, to be singled out for special treatment.

Thaiday, primed to play a hit-man role similar to Lockyer's former minder Tonie Carroll, warned any NSW forward looking to flatten Lockyer in his record-setting 35th Origin that they'd have to get through him first.

"My job's going to be a lot harder because I'm going to have to protect Locky a lot more. I'll be making quite a few tackles," Thaiday said.

"They'll send a lot of traffic Locky's way and I'm sure they'll do the same to Johnathan."

Thaiday said the faster, more mobile forwards like Anthony Watmough and Paul Gallen, who are likely to play up front at some stage, had the footwork to get wide and have a real crack at Lockyer.

Thurston agreed with Thaiday's observations but said he and Lockyer would handle any targeting tactics on the night.

"It's just commonsense with the forwards they've picked, with just one specialist front-rower, that they're coming after us," Thurston said.

"We'll be fine.

"Sam is strong defensively and he can hit. He's pretty mobile for a big bloke himself.

"Ash Harrison's done a really good job on the left side looking after me, and Sammy has done the same on Lockyer's side.

"No doubt Dave Taylor will be there somewhere and that's where we'll have to be strong, in that area."

Thurston, meanwhile, will make some adjustments from Origin I with both Taylor and Greg Inglis on his left side in Sydney.

"It was good having Willie Tonga outside me (in Brisbane) because we've got a good connection from club level," he said before a sharp ball session on the Sunshine Coast.

"But we've got the 'big dog' back in GI (Inglis) and he does a fair bit of work for me on that side."

Thaiday described Stuart's NSW squad, especially his forward pack, as "interesting".

Mobile back-rowers Gallen, Watmough and Ben Creagh will find themselves rotating up front.

Thaiday suggested Queensland have to get numbers into tackles to offset their speed.

"I haven't seen a side quite like this before but Ricky (Stuart) has got a plan on how he wants to play and use those forwards," he said.

"It's quite interesting.

"I think Luke Lewis will come on (off the bench) in a roaming role and try and attack some of our bigger guys up the middle.

"You might see Ben Creagh playing a bit of front-row.

"Paul Gallen has already adjusted into that front-row role, he plays a lot like a front-rower anyway.

"Quicker forwards means less numbers in the tackle, faster play-the-balls, that's what they'll be looking to do.

"It can be hard to control those smaller guys especially when they're using footwork at the line and when they've got that off load in them.

"Players like that are never really dead in a tackle, they can always slip a tackle or find their feet and get a quick play-the-ball."

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