Blues expect to lose Originpenalty count

NSW have been on the wrong side of the penalty count at Suncorp Stadium for the past six years and they’re not expecting anything to change come Wednesday night.

The Blues are heading into the State of Origin series opener against Queensland believing they’ll be on the wrong side of referees Matt Cecchin’s and Gerard Sutton’s decisions more often than not.

However, they are bullish about their chances anyway.

Not since game three in 2011 have NSW been awarded more penalties in Brisbane and over that time the Maroons have won the cumulative count 56-34.

The influence of the 52,500-strong parochial crowd is clear for all to see and NSW accept it’s something they’ll have to combat.

“It’s their home ground,” NSW prop Andrew Fifita said.

“We’re going to expect (to lose the penalty count), we should just move forward.”

Cronulla star Fifita said while the Blues don’t want to give Kevin Walters’ team a leg up, they were backing their goalline defence to hold firm under pressure.

He pointed to the performance of the Sharks over the first 11 weeks of the NRL season in which they have conceded the equal most penalties (7.8 per game) but allowed the least points (146).

“At the Sharks we’ve built a mentality that we don’t care if we give away a penalty,” Fifita said.

“We back our defence and we’re going to try to take that into it.”

‘The Cauldron’ has a reputation as being one of the most intimidating places to play but Blues back-rower Tyson Frizell said NSW were embracing the hate and jeers they were expecting to be on the end of.

“It’s not intimidating,” Frizell said.

“It’s more of an experience and an enjoyable experience.

“It’s something you’ll never get anywhere else in rugby league.”

Frizell made his Origin debut in Brisbane last year.

“We look forward to playing up there,” he said.

“You’d rather hear (the boos) than nothing at all.

“I can’t wait to play.”

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