Rookie enforcer David Klemmer believes you have got to earn respect, and he convinced the NSW coaching staff that he had done that after a wrestling duel with captain Paul Gallen.

The Blues players were split into groups of five for a wrestling drill on the eve of Origin II, with Klemmer matched up with Gallen, fellow props Aaron Woods and James Tamou and centre Michael Jennings.

Each player took it in turns to wrestle the other four members of their group, one after the other, while on their knees, the aim being to force their opponent to the ground.

While Jennings surprised the coaches with how well he did against the bigger forwards, the two standouts were Klemmer and Gallen.

When the pair came together, it was described as being like the young bull versus the old bull as Klemmer was the new face in the NSW forward pack and had yet to play with Gallen after the Blues skipper missed the series opener with a hip injury.

With the entire squad looking on, neither was willing to give any ground until they were eventually stopped and the contest declared a draw.

At another training session on the eve of Wednesday night's Origin series decider at Suncorp Stadium, Klemmer charged so hard at a tackle bag that he knocked out Blues welfare manager Gavin Wood, who was holding it.

Having gained the attention of everyone in the game with his 24 minutes of mayhem at the MCG, in which he replied  to Maroons veteran Corey Parker's demand for "some respect" by telling him to "get f---ed you c---", the incident with Wood has added to Klemmer's cult hero status in NSW.

In camp, the 21-year-old rarely goes anywhere without fellow prop Aaron Woods but others aren't sure how to take the 200cm tall, 120kg giant with the size 18 boots.

"He has got a bit of a reputation, I suppose, amongst you guys of being a bit of a lunatic – and let me tell you, away from the field he is," Gallen said.

"He's nuts and some of his behaviour in the hallway is funny but when he gets on the footy field he is really, really mature. He listens to everything, he wants to learn and he trains really hard.

"He is not one of these blokes who will lose his head and start throwing punches or giving silly penalties away. He is a good young mature kid."

A heat map provided by Champion Data gives some indication of the impact Klemmer made with his 11 runs of the ball that yielded 82 metres, but it will only be in the Origin decider that the significance of his comments to Parker can be measured.

The Blues have attempted to shield Klemmer from the media in the lead-up to the biggest game of his career so far but the Canterbury forward said in an interview recorded last week that he was aware there would be a target on his head when he runs onto Suncorp Stadium.

"I think every game I play in now there is going to be something there but I have just got to be smart in the way I play rugby league," Klemmer told Channel Nine.

"Respect is not given to you, you have got to earn it and it was a big thing growing up. My old man was a hard man, he really showed me how to respect people.

"They're going to get me and they are probably going to get me a couple of times but can they get me another 10 more times I run the ball. Good luck to them, I am going to enjoy it."