Can the Maroons worm their way out of the Origin compost again?
New South Wales Blues players and fans have a recurring nightmare. They reach out to grasp the State of Origin Shield only to have it snatched from their fingers by monsters in maroon.
Since Queensland's era of dominance began in 2006, New South Wales has won the first game on five occasions but only once, in 2014, has it turned it into a series victory.
The current side includes six survivors from 2017 when the Blues, spearheaded by Andrew Fifita, dominated Game One in Brisbane to win 28-4. They led Game Two in Sydney with five minutes to go before losing 18-16, then capitulated in the decider in Brisbane 22-6.
No doubt Boyd Cordner, Tyson Frizell, David Klemmer, James Maloney, James Tedesco and Jake Trbojevic wear deep scars. Once bitten, twice shy.
But most of Brad Fittler's line-up are fresh, young and humble. They are not looking back, nor are they getting ahead of themselves.
Up 1-0 in this series after a convincing 22-12 win, and hot favourites for Game Two, New South Wales could be excused for feeling confident.
It would be a traitorous loudmouth though who would dare jinx them by pronouncing the Shield should be presented in Sydney on Sunday night or speculating on a clean sweep.
The Maroons can take heart from last year's comeback, but this time it's different.
In 2017 Queensland reacted to the Game One loss by making seven changes, rejuvenating the forwards and calling in the cavalry with the likes of Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston to re-join fellow Maroons legends Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk.
Now only one of the four remains. Without them, can Queensland do it again?
The Maroons' changes after Game One are limited to two: the encore return from injury of Slater, and the inclusion on the bench of Kalyn Ponga. Out are the injured Michael Morgan and Anthony Milford.
Slater at full-back will spark the left-side attack with Storm teammate Cameron Munster and Greg Inglis, two of the best in the first outing.
More importantly he will better organise their defensive line from behind to stymie the Blues' Tedesco, Maloney, Damien Cook, Frizell, Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr, who racked up 50 tackle breaks and six line breaks through the Maroons' middle and right edge.
No matter what position Ponga plays, the dazzling 20-year-old, heir-apparent to Slater, could be the wildcard that cracks the game open against tiring defenders.
Queensland will expect improvement from its existing troops. The Maroons need a mistake-free Will Chambers, stronger Dylan Napa, more involved Jarrod Wallace, more effective Gavin Cooper and Coen Hess, and timely bursts from Ben Hunt and Andrew McCullough.
Hunt played solidly but, while avoiding the dangerous Addo-Carr, he should vary his kicks to tall winger Tom Trbojevic, who was untroubled by repeated bombs.
While acknowledging their first-up deficiencies, Maroons coach Kevin Walters believes that a smoother preparation this week will bring the necessary adjustments.
Queensland reckons it wasn't so far off the pace in Game One where a couple of critical calls went against the Maroons and they lost the penalties 4-1. They wonder how the Blues abided by the rules for 78 minutes and want a fair shake.
For all that, there's not the usual bravado among Maroons fans this week. The ingrained certainty of victory is more tentative, with a hint of concession that without Thurston, Smith and Cronk the golden era might be over.
Blues deserve to be Origin II favourites
The other concession is that New South Wales played well and could go even better.
Eleven rookies now have a game under their belt and players like James Roberts and Nathan Cleary could well have a bigger impact.
Given more ball with room to move, Roberts can be devastating.
Cleary deferred to Maloney in Game One, and why not? Maloney is in scintillating form but flirting with forward passes.
In their one change, the Blues have lost the aggression of the injured Reagan Campbell-Gillard. Surprise replacement Matt Prior, on debut at the age of 31, has grown in stature at Cronulla in recent years.
The Blues, at home and desperate to avoid a decider in Brisbane, deserve to be favourites.
In Game One, they scored four tries and went within a whisker of two more. Queensland only managed two tries, one of them an intercept.
It's 'now or never' versus 'do or die'.
Fittler is keeping the Blues grounded. So much so they can feel the nutrients coming up from the soil through the grass into their bare feet.
The question is: Can Queensland worm their way out of the compost again?
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ABC .net
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