A heart-to-heart with former Blues skipper Danny Buderus will be NSW captain Kurt Gidley's inspiration when he leads a team packed with State of Origin rookies in tonight's clash with Queensland.
Passed the captain's baton from Buderus and NSW assistant coach Andrew Johns before him, Gidley sought the counsel of his former Newcastle team-mates in the build-up to game one at Etihad Stadium.
Buderus delivered a simple message of self-belief, declaring Gidley had all the skills and ability to take NSW to their first series victory in four years.
BLOG: Who will win tonight's Origin opener?Poore, Weyman used as early Origin weapons"He said just play the way you have been playing at club level," Gidley said.
"There's no point making these sorts of teams and being named captain and trying to do something that I don't normally do week-to-week. I think that was some good advice and I'll certainly be taking that out there ..."
While Queensland's team features the Australian backline as well as Kangaroos props Petero Civoniceva and Steve Price, Gidley will guide seven debutants tonight - including St George Illawarra trio Justin Poore, Michael Weyman and Ben Creagh.
Gidley declared the Blues must gain an upper hand in the forwards to complete their Melbourne mission tonight.
"You need to be going forward, playing up tempo and holding on to possession of the ball," he said.
"The forwards have a huge part; there's no point having a good backline if your forwards are going nowhere.
"I think it will be a fast game and I don't think it will be a fancy one to start with. We'll be playing pretty controlled and it's just going to be back and forth until someone breaks."
With the all-star Maroons led by experienced Test halves Johnathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer, NSW playmaking pair have little Origin experience - Terry Campese is making his debut and Peter Wallace is involved in his second Origin series.
However, NSW coach Craig Bellamy believes the Blues' backline has superior form in the NRL this year than their more fancied Queensland counterparts.
"We picked guys that are in really good form, that was one of our focuses," Bellamy said.
"When you watched those (Queensland) guys in the Test, you know what you're up against and that's what we're going to be up against tomorrow night.
"They were all outstanding in that Test match, so we know it's going to be a tough job, but the guys have worked really hard to get our plans in place there and we're hopeful we can be effective with those plans."
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