Blues coach Brad Fittler says the “embarrassment” of his side’s horror final few minutes in the State of Origin series opener can be the driving force to help them produce one of the greatest upsets of all time in Brisbane.
NSW led 18-16 in Adelaide with eight minutes remaining against a Maroons side reduced to 12 men after Thomas Flegler was sent to the sin bin, while injuries players forced other players to line up in unfamiliar positions.
But as they’ve done so many times before, Queensland found a way to lift and scored two late tries to steal game 1 to heap all the pressure in the world on Fittler and his players.
Things are even tougher now with Nathan Cleary and Api Koroisau ruled out, while Latrell Mitchell will again sit out after he failed to recover from a calf complaint.
Winning in Brisbane is a non-negotiable, and Fittler says the pain of blowing it in Adelaide should motivate his players to reverse the result even though the bookies have already written off NSW.
“I hope so. It burns me, but you’d have to ask them individually,” he said.
“You don’t normally get them looking that good and let it go like that. It was pretty disappointing and a bit embarrassing towards the end. Sometimes embarrassment is a pretty good motivator.
“We were in a really good position and we relaxed and I don’t know why.
“We can’t have any of that.”
The Blues do have history on their side, with NSW winning all five game 2s under Fittler, although only one of those was at Suncorp Stadium.
No side from south of the border has gone to Queensland 1-0 down in the series and then won the next two games, but the current crop of Blues have no choice but to rewrite history with plenty of their futures on the line.
Skipper James Tedesco is especially motivated to flip the script after Roosters teammate Lindsay Collins outleapt him to set up Cameron Munster for the try that sealed the result at the Adelaide Oval.
He had a busy game in the opener but was criticised for some poor options in attack, and he’ll get the chance to make amends alongside great mate Mitchell Moses who replaces Cleary in the halves.
“It’s motivating for sure,” he said.
“We learn our lessons and we know that that’s what Origin games are won on, on big moments.
“We can’t just cross our fingers and hope we can get the win, we’ve got to create it as a team and do everything we can together.”