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This week, Mercury sports writers TIM BARROW and CAMERON MEE look ahead to State of Origin II and discuss how NSW can save the series.
BARROW: Can we get some new script writers for Origin please, Cameron?
Here I was thinking when James Tedesco won the series last year it was part of a brilliant Blue era, one free of the predictable heartache of Queensland crushing our souls.
And then Wayne Bennett throws a maroon jacket on and NSW are now facing the worst defeat since Paul Vautin achieved the impossible in 1995.
Have the Blues panicked again, by dropping Luke Keary, or is it the right call? Keary was one of their best in the first half in Adelaide, with a number of dangerous runs, before NSW were battered and held in their own half for much of the second.
MEE: It's pretty clear Keary has emerged as the fall guy for the Blues disappointing performance last week and with the benefit of hindsight, it shouldn't come as a surprise.
Brad Fittler was trying extremely hard to get Cody Walker into that No. 6 jumper for Origin I, with Keary's club form throughout the season simply too good to justify choosing Walker of the Roosters five-eighth.
But now, with one average game in the books, Fittler has pulled the trigger immediately. Given how eager he was to get the Rabbitohs half into the starting side, Fittler hasn't really panicked, but that doesn't mean it was a wise decision to dump Keary.
It has been staggering how Keary has just been thrown by the wayside while Fittler has wrapped his arms around Nathan Cleary in the aftermath of last week's loss.
Cleary was assigned the role of the dominant playmaker in Origin I, yet he struggled to provide direction or any attacking spark.
The success in the first half came on the back of Tedesco and Damien Cook sniping around the ruck, with Keary almost sliding through the Maroons defence when he took the line on.
For me, Keary has been made the fall guy for last week's loss, what will be interesting to see now is how Cleary and Walker work together.
Will the pair have success in similar fashion to Cleary and Jarome Luai at the Panthers throughout the season?
BARROW: Cleary led Penrith to a grand final this year, but there's suddenly a question of his confidence. Cleary and Cook had to find ways to drag NSW out of a hole in the second half of the loss in the opening game.
Sure, referee Gerard Sutton swallowed the whistle at half-time, but it's hardly the first Origin game where penalties have dried up.
Instead, NSW were digging a hole and Queensland handed them the shovel, at least until the late surge offered the Blues one last chance at snatching victory.
Walker is a player who can thrive in Origin, but there will be precious little time to find his feet after being hooked and then axed after game one last season.
The pressure will be on him from the start in a must-win game, that's why Cleary, as the Blues general, has to take control of this contest, especially with captain Boyd Cordner ruled out with concussion.
Are you concerned about what we saw from Jack Wighton, a five-eighth, and Clint Gutherson, a fullback, in the centres in defence?
MEE: Yes. I've had question marks over Clint Gutherson all season.
He has plenty of admirers, but I haven't seen enough from him consistently to justify the hype. When it was all going well for the Eels he was always sniffing around, benefiting from the platform set by Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard, the half-breaks created by Waqa Blake and Dylan Brown.
When things started going pear-shaped for the side, however, Gutherson was nowhere to be seen.
We saw last week how he got upstaged by a club backrower, a player who in any other year would not be near an Origin series.
Wighton, in theory, had a far tougher task last week.
We all know how good Dane Gagai is when he throws on a maroon jumper, the Rabbitohs back able to turn average club form into brilliance in the Origin arena.
That was on show yet again last week.
Wighton has spent more time throughout his career in the centres and that background should help him handle the Origin arena.
We did see him thrive in the position during games two and three last year, so I have confidence he will bounce back on Wednesday night.
Part of me would still like to see him in the halves for NSW, as a five-eighth he was the Dally M Medal winner and the form player throughout the final weeks of the NRL season.
We've spent the past week picking holes in the Blues squad, a team that looked unbeatable seven days ago suddenly appearing very ordinary.
Can they produce an immediate turnaround and how do they do it?
BARROW: Oh yeah, they'll win and win easily in Sydney.
For all our concern, the NSW blueprint is already there.
They need to keep running those angles in behind the ruck and have the bodies in motion for offloads.
The more Bennett and Queensland can make it a grind, the longer they're in the contest.
And let's face it, this Queensland team is pretty limited in terms of talent and strike, they have to do it the hard way.
Which is the challenge for NSW, they have to win the territory battle and open the door, once they do that, Queensland won't be able to stop them.
The problem with losing in Adelaide is the Blues would then have to head to Suncorp Stadium to win a series, something they haven't managed to do since 2005.
So the Blues need to not only win, but make a statement here. Are you tipping NSW as well?
MEE: Like last week I'm nervous, but I will tip NSW. The Blues turned it around last season, hopefully they can do it again.
