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\n The Queensland Maroons at their captain’s run at the MCG.
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It\u2019s a new team and a new mindset but Maroons will take inspiration from the past as they endeavour to become the first Queensland team to win at the MCG in more than 30 years.<\/p>\n
No Maroons side has been able to replicate the feats of Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin\u2019s \u2018Nevilles\u2019 back in 1995, with the Blues holding a dominant 5-1 record at The G.<\/p>\n
However, the side have refused to buy into the power of hoodoo, with everyone from coach Billy Slater to players Harry Grant, Trent Loiero, Tino Fa\u2019asuamaleaui and Kurt Capewell dismissing the poor record.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m really looking forward to (playing at the MCG), I think it’s going to be a great occasion, obviously, do or die,\u201d said Capewell, one of only two Maroons players even alive in ’95 along with Cameron Munster.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully all the Queenslanders will show up for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is us this year. It’s our chance to do something and hopefully we can stand up and get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n The Queensland Maroons at their captain’s run at the MCG.
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Forward Fa\u2019asuamaleaui has his own personal and powerful motivation for performing well in Game Two, playing for his \u2018hero\u2019, father Fereti who passed away this week \u00a0from cancer.<\/p>\n
The passionate prop rejoined the Maroons squad in Melbourne on Monday after speaking time with family at his father\u2019s bedside.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re not worried about it, if you’re worried about that stat now, you’ve obviously beaten yourself already,\u201d Fa\u2019asuamaleaui said, speaking earlier in camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for us as a team, it’s a new year \u2026 no-one (sic) was born then, so, does it really matter?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve got a job to do and if it’s in Melbourne, Gympie, wherever we have to play, in the car park, we’ll turn up with the right attitude and make sure we get our job done for Queensland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Storm forward Trent Loiero was looking forward to the occasion of bringing Origin to his \u2018home\u2019 supporters and said the side would draw from their strong opening to Game One, but look to complete the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be very special, I think \u2026 (to break the hoodoo),\u201d Loiero said.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The MCG record) is pretty wild, but I think we haven’t put too much energy into that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re just more worried about what we can do at the camp, this camp this week and training, preparing the best we can and hopefully going down there and putting in a performance.<\/p>\n
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Blues v Maroons: Game 2<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Game One, we were very close and I think, just a little bit off the mark, (so we) didn’t get the result, but I think we showed the type of footy we can play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is disheartening to lose, but it just shows we can play that type of footy and we know what we’re capable of.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can go replicate that and with a few minor changes to what we’re doing, I think it will put us in good stead.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n Paul Vautin celebrates during the 1995 series as the Maroons coach.
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However, both Grant and Slater acknowledged the achievement of coach Fatty Vautin and his 1995 underdogs who were written off before the series to stun the Blues with a rare whitewash.<\/p>\n
Slater said his insights had helped the Maroons turn around a similarly poor record in Perth last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cMight have to give Fatty a call, get a couple of tips off him,\u201d Slater joked at the start of Game Two camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave us a couple of tips last year that sort of helped us \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn’t have a great record over in Perth, we changed a few things up and it changed our performance up.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur preparation is key for what’s ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Inside camp: Harry Grant<\/p>\n
Grant said as a Queensland fan, the achievements of that team were still a source of inspiration, but the time was now to rewrite that history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always draw on the past and are in touch with the history and what it means to be a Queenslander,\u201d Grant said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many Queenslanders that have put the jersey in this position.<\/p>\n
\u201cFatty\u2019s \u2018Neville Nobodies\u2019 are a team that certainly did that in 1995 with their defensive efforts and courage that they showed throughout that series.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of Queenslanders still talk about and are very proud of that team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a pretty good team to base your game off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is already going to be talk around it or speculation, but as a team you can\u2019t give (hoodoos) much attention.<\/p>\n
“(They) are what you make of it \u2026 you can give it attention if you want, but at the end of the day it doesn\u2019t mean anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conditions don\u2019t change. It\u2019s always the same 80 minutes on the same size field every week.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can certainly take a bit from their side, but at the end of the day it is an open book now and we have got to write a story.\u201d<\/p>\n