Blues confident they can topple Maroons
The Baby Blues want the opportunity to back their belief that they can stop Queensland's stars from making State of Origin history in Sydney then claim the series themselves.
The new-look NSW team's second half fightback in their series-opening 28-18 loss on Wednesday night was enough to convince them they can topple a Maroons side on the brink of a record fourth straight series win.
"I just hope the selectors give us another chance to have a crack at the Queenslanders because I thought we had them on the ropes in the second half," said rookie hooker Robbie Farah.
"A couple of opportunities that we take advantage of and I think it's a different story."
The last time NSW came from behind to win a series was when Andrew Johns came out of representative retirement in 2005 to lead the Blues to a 32-10 triumph in Origin III at Suncorp Stadium.
That year the Blues lost Origin I in golden point extra-time but then won in Sydney and a decider at Brisbane to secure a 2-1 series win.
Blues utility Craig Wing has played in two Origin series wins and believes the current NSW team, which featured seven debutants in Melbourne's Etihad Stadium, have the ability to not only level the series at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on June 24, but upset Queensland on home territory in a decider.
"I think there's certainly a lot of potential here and it's just a matter of getting the combinations happening a little bit better and players working together a bit more," said Wing.
"We were a bit unlucky at times. In saying that we did lose at the end of the day and we have to look at things we did well and improve the things we didn't."
Wing's injection midway through the second half proved a major turning point for NSW as they scored two quick tries to reduce a 24-6 deficit to just six points with 10 minutes to play.
The slick movements of Wing, Farah and skipper Kurt Gidley in and around the ruck caused major headaches for the tiring Queensland side and Wing and Farah both want the chance to torment the Maroons for longer when Origin II rolls around in three weeks.
"I've played with Robbie a few times before and I'm starting to get to know his game and he is a very creative player and he can really make things happen," said Wing.
"We were a totally different team once we got a bit of momentum and a bit of field position.
"We didn't really get too much time in their half but when we did we were quite dangerous."
Farah said the Blues proved Queensland are susceptible to fast play.
"We looked to get them up the middle and I thought we did that," said Farah.
Tryscorer Ben Creagh was another of the rookies to hold his head high after the loss, and he wants selectors to give the baby Blues a shot at redemption after they finished the stronger team.
"I don't know if we can walk off saying we were the better team because Queensland won, but there was a lot of positives out there," said Creagh.
"We've only been together for 10 days now and hopefully we keep the majority of the team together and there is a lot to work on and we can get a positive result next game."
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