Game of Thrones taught us to hold the door, but Blues players simply must hold on to the ball if they want to win game two in Melbourne after they overcame an awful start in the State of Origin series opener.<\/p>\n
Slow starts have been a theme for NSW in their past three first halves, with Queensland racking up a dominant 66-12 advantage in the opening 40 minutes across those matches.<\/p>\n
The Blues were down 20-0 after just 20 minutes at Accor Stadium but stormed home to steal victory after Kalyn Ponga was sent off.<\/p>\n
But they can\u2019t rely on the opposition being reduced to 12 men for the final 23 minutes at the MCG on Wednesday night, with coach Laurie Daley needing to get his troops going from the outset. <\/p>\n
NSW made an error after just 77 seconds in Sydney, and things didn\u2019t improve with Stephen Crichton and then Brian To\u2019o spilling the Steeden.<\/p>\n
To\u2019o made several errors in slippery conditions that were so uncharacteristic from one of the greatest wingers of the modern era. <\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully never again,\u201d he replied when asked about the mistakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was definitely a crucial moment for me because I hold myself to a high standard and I know the jersey comes with a responsibility, so the last thing you want to do is let your teammates down.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod willing that doesn\u2019t happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isaah Yeo has played plenty of games with To\u2019o for Penrith and NSW, and he was more focused on how he responded with a game-high 188m rather than his three errors.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe certainly doesn\u2019t need to promise anything because he\u2019s played a lot of games and that one was very uncharacteristic,\u201d the Blues skipper said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love how he attacked the game after that because there would have been a lot of blokes who would\u2019ve gone into their shells after that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to work on it (our handling) because you don\u2019t want to do it at NRL level, let alone in the Origin arena and the intensity that comes with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to harp on it too much because you want guys to remain confident and play footy, but you can\u2019t put yourself on the back foot like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitch Barnett was the man who set the tone with the first dropped ball of the night in Sydney, but one thing that helped was the number of club captains in the team who ensured their teammates didn\u2019t panic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the characters you thought would have stood up,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cNathan (Cleary) was pretty instrumental in that one, wasn\u2019t he? And I just thought the way he handled that second half in particular, only he could have done that.\u201d<\/p>\n