Eighty minutes was all it took for Queensland to shred a NSW blueprint for State of Origin success that was nine months in the making.

Determined to avoid mistakes of years gone by - mistakes which contributed to five straight series wins to the Maroons - the Blues vowed to build a dynasty from the ground up.

New coach Ricky Stuart - the last man to lead NSW to Origin success in 2005 - had a vision and a plan, and nothing was going to get in the way of his quest for long-term success.

"My decisions aren't just going to be for this year," Stuart said back in March.

"I'd wear a series loss to get the long-term gain, absolutely. If we can win one game this year, I'll be happy.

"This series has to be the start of the next three to five seasons."

Gone were the days of short-term planning and baffling selections - or so it seemed.

Along comes game one, a contest the Blues were never given much hope of winning.

Surprisingly they grabbed a lead with less than 10 minutes left on the clock, before some familiar foes - Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston, Darren Lockyer and Billy Slater - combined to end dreams of a stunning upset.

The quartet had restored order, but for the Blues it sparked chaos.

How else do you explain Stuart's selections for game two on Wednesday night, a match the Blues have to win to avoid a sixth straight series defeat?

Deemed an unsuitable fit when snubbed for game one, Jarryd Hayne was recalled and at wing, not fullback where he's playing for Parramatta.

Having been overrun up front with Matt Scott outdoing NSW's entire four-man prop rotation, Stuart decided to dump two of his front-rowers and replace them with back-rowers.

Then came the absolute doozy of them all, with Manly wonderkid Will Hopoate named in the centres to replace the injured Michael Jennings.

Sure, Stuart's hand was forced somewhat by injury and Hopoate looks like he could one day turn into a great player, but it wentagainst everything the former Test coach preached in the lead-up to the series.

"I could have picked Jarryd and Jamal (Idris) in positions that they haven't played a lot of football in," Stuart had said after opting not to pick Hayne and Idris out of their favourite positions to fill potential vacancies for the series opener.

"I don't think that would be right in regards to the preparation for the team. I don't think it would be the right balance."

Normally a fullback, Hopoate has shown a tremendous ability to play anywhere in the backline, but he has played just two games at centre, and now has to play there on the biggest stage of all.

Maybe Stuart sees the 19-year-old Hopoate as part of his grand plan for the future - remember the line "My decisions aren't just going to be for this year."

But just last month Hopoate announced he would be taking a two-year sabbatical from the game at the end of this season to undertake a Mormon mission.

"It's not really my business to be concerned what he's doing with his religion," Stuart said after picking him.

"I've got to look at the immediate, and that's now."

Unfortunately for the Blues, the now is starting to look a lot like the before.

Compare their build-up to game two to that of the Maroons.

While there is the valid argument that they are blessed with a crop of exceptional players, there is also a method to the way they do things.

Look at the way Cooper Cronk is being groomed off the bench as the eventual successor to Lockyer.

Or what about the way Dave Taylor was left out of the side for game one, was told to go back to club footy and start performing, and was then rewarded with a berth for game two.

How about Dane Neilsen, the little known Melbourne centre who has filled in admirably for the injured Justin Hodges.

If Hodges is fit, he'll return for game three, but it highlights the natural order of succession Queensland have put in place.

It's a situation the Blues can only admire with envy.

"It is about creating stability," Stuart said after his side lost game one.

"You are not going to go further in this series or in the future if you keep chopping and changing."

Six changes later, the Blues are still searching for that first building block.

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