Origin: The Washup

WHAT is it about New South Wales fans and wanting to ring the changes to the side whenever they lose a game?

Sitting in amongst Blatchy's Blues on Wednesday night just after the full-time siren, the question of who to sack was again circulating around the ground.

"Who can we bring in?" "Get rid of Mitchell Pearce, he's a hack", "they should replace Josh Morris with Jarrod Croker" were just some of the comments.

The thing about New South Wales fans is that they all have a hidden agenda; if changes are needed they'll nominate several players from the club they support who would be a better option when most of the time everyone knows they're not.

It happens all the time.

Truth is the Blues weren't that far away on Wednesday night and there's no shame in losing by a point to the current Queensland side who, despite losing the series last year, still possess some of the all-time great players.

The fact it took them until the 75th minute before Cooper Cronk put them back in front spoke volumes about the tenacity and toughness of the current Blues 17.

In the second half the Blues had precious little football at the money end of the ground and the sheer amount of tackling in their own half eventually took its toll.

Don't forget Josh Dugan almost covered himself in glory with about 90 seconds left on the clock when he had a shot at field goal from 30 metres out and had to dance his way around the oncoming defence.

The difference between the two sides wasn't necessarily the absence of Jarryd Hayne (who we all know won't be back), Paul Gallen and Greg Bird, it was the ability of the key playmakers grasping the opportunity with both hands when it presented itself.

Chopping and changing the side will do nothing but disrupt the combinations which Laurie Daley started a little over 12 months ago so it was encouraging to hear in the press conference he wanted to keep as much of the same side as possible.

Continuity is the only thing which will stop Queensland. It did last year, there's no reason it can't this year. The Blues will just have to do it the hard way by winning the last two games.