Queensland will attempt to silence a sellout ANZ Stadium crowd early with a fast start in Origin II on Wednesday night.
Queensland have won four of their last seven games at the Sydney ground which was a hoodoo venue for them before they began their six series streak in 2006.
NSW coach Ricky Stuart and his players will have the majority of the 80,000-strong crowd behind them, but Queensland assistant coach Michael Hagan said the Maroons could turn that to their advantage with a strong start.
“Suncorp Stadium is a pretty hostile environment for the Blues and you don’t expect anything less when you come down here,” he said
“It’s great their fans have got behind their team.
“Good players like to play in front of big crowds whether they’re behind you or not, it tends to lift your performance.
“We’ve got plenty of big-match players who thrive on that sort of environment.”
Hagan confirmed five-eighth Johnathan Thurston a certain starter after rumours about his fitness surfaced late on Tuesday.
“I haven’t seen one thing to suggest Johnathan Thurston won’t be 100 per cent fit for the game,” he said.
“I’m not sure where that circulated from yesterday but he trained really well and got through our session without a problem and hasn’t been under treatment for any injury.”
Queensland coach Mal Meninga’s focus has been on his players showing more intensity out of the blocks than they did in game one.
The job they do on stopping big men Paul Gallen, rookie Tim Grant and James Tamou through the middle will be the key for Queensland.