We let Qld get inside our heads: Woods

NSW prop Aaron Woods admits the Blues have allowed Queensland to get inside their heads during the Maroons’ reign of dominance.

The Blues go into Wednesday’s State of Origin opener at Suncorp Stadium with their best opportunity in years to put the Maroons to the sword, with Kevin Walters’ side seriously depleted by key outs.

Injuries to Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and Matt Scott and the retirement of Corey Parker have left them minus 107 games of Origin experience.

However Woods says the Blues’ squad hasn’t discussed the Maroons or their plans ahead of game one because they didn’t want to trip themselves up mentally.

The Wests Tigers captain says during Queensland’s run of 10 wins over the past 11 years, NSW’s efforts to concentrate on shutting down the Maroons’ contingent of superstars had led to them getting “nervous”.

“We haven’t spoken too much about Queensland,” he said in camp in Kingscliff on Sunday.

“The biggest job is to worry about ourselves.

“Every time we do talk about Queensland, we tend to get a little bit nervous about what they’re throwing at us because they’re such a great side.

“We’ve just got to know our roles and just back ourselves and play the footy we’ve been training for.”

There’s swelling confidence within the Blues camp that their time has arrived and Woods reckons they’re better prepared than ever to take control of the big moments.

He points to the big-game form of Mitchell Pearce, James Maloney’s history of winning premierships at two clubs and the return of game-breaker Jarryd Hayne after a two-year hiatus.

“When the big moments come, we just need to take the right opportunities,” Woods said.

“The last couple of series we’ve been beaten in game one just.

“We should have scored a try last year, the year before we missed a field goal.

“Game one is always the biggest game. Once you get the win there, history shows you’re not definitely going to win but you’re going to go a long way to winning the series.”

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