Captain Cameron Smith has warned NSW to expect a far better performance from his champion Queensland side this year, claiming the 2012 series was their worst since their seven years of dominance began in 2006.
The Maroons scraped past the Blues 21-20 in the decider at Suncorp Stadium last year, thanks to a late Cooper Cronk field goal, to extend their stranglehold on the series.
The Blues have talked about how much confidence they took from going so close last year, but Smith said the Maroons believe that still winning when not at their best gives them the edge going into Wednesday’s series opener at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.
“Last year was probably the worst series we’ve played as a team overall,” Smith said.
“In a way, it gives us a confidence that we didn’t play well and still won the series even though it was only a field goal that separated the sides.”
A controversial Greg Inglis try sealed a narrow victory in Melbourne in game one last year and Smith said with a hungry Blues side desperate to win in front of their home fans, the Maroons have to hit the ground running at ANZ Stadium.
“For us, it’s about making sure we play our best game straight up,” Smith said.
“We’ve learned from the past it’s hard when you lose the first one, particularly when you have two games in Sydney.”
“Game one we were well off the mark in Melbourne. Game two we improved a bit but the Blues were very good that night and took care of us.
“And we saved our best until last in Brisbane. We know this year we cannot warm into this series.
“We have to go flat out as we don’t have the luxury of two home games.”