NSW officials are confident they can avert further embarrassment by pulling a decent crowd to State of Origin III at ANZ Stadium on July 7.

The Blues' 34-6 capitulation to Queensland on Wednesday night to clock a worst-ever five-year interstate series drought might have been enough to make the NSWRL fear there'd be more blue seats than blue jerseys at the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium.

But chief executive Geoff Carr is hopeful the chance at redemption will get the blue blood flowing.

"Game three's always difficult in Sydney but the really good thing about it is before yesterday there were over 55,000 tickets sold," Carr told AAP.

"I guess NSW supporters would be disappointed but my guess is they'll come out and support their team to make sure we don't get a whitewash."

Or Maroonwash, something the Queenslanders have vowed to inflict to ice the cake of their historic series win.

Blues halfback Mitchell Pearce believes the side can conjure a victory to save some face.

"I think they're beatable but there's no doubt they're a great side," he said.

"They've got the whole Australian team pretty much, minus Jarryd Hayne.

"They've built heaps of combinations for a long time now and you can see that with them, but I think they are beatable.

"The effort from the boys last night was awesome, just when the fatigue set in a few decisions we made weren't great."

Hayne is also looking forward to salvaging some pride.

"You're always looking for a challenge, that's the whole reason sports people love sports I suppose ... something you can conquer," he said.

"Just to win one game would be pretty satisfying.

"We're pretty much on an all-time low at the moment so to have a chance to be able to do something would be good."

Meanwhile, a decision on whether crowd-pleasing AFL-bound Queensland winger Israel Folau will be there to help swell the numbers is expected after a meeting between Carr and Rugby League Players Association boss David Garnsey.

"They (the players' association) weren't in the equation when I was making previous comments (that Folau should be banned from Origin)," Carr said.

"I haven't changed my mind but now obviously I've got to speak to the players association to see where they're at."

Garnsey said on Wednesday there was a question of fairness in any move to ban Folau.

"It is entirely inappropriate to change the eligibility rules two-thirds of the way through a competition," he said.

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