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Winning in front of your adoring fans is nice, but as New South Wales skipper Danny Buderus can testify, victory on enemy turf in front of 50,000 rabid Queenslanders is what State of Origin rugby league is all about.
Which is why the veteran hooker is taking the time to soak up and enjoy this one, with Wednesday night's return bout at Suncorp Stadium the last time Buderus leads the sky blues into the cauldron.
And the stakes couldn't be higher, with a NSW victory seeing the Origin trophy return south of the border for the first time since 2005, and bringing an unexpectedly swift end to a Maroons dynasty which looked capable of carrying on well into the next decade.
"It's a real big week and game for myself in the sense that it's my last up there," said Buderus, who hasn't missed an interstate battle since his debut in NSW's 32-4 win at Stadium Australia in game one, 2002.
"I'm not going to get carried away with that but I'll make sure I enjoy the week and do what I can to make sure I perform to my best out there on Wednesday night.
"It'll be great to get up there, you really know how big Origin is once you get to Queensland. When you're in NSW you're away from your stadium a lot and you're in your own little bunker a lot.
"When you're in Queensland it's in your face, the stadium's right in the middle of the city and everyone's walking around with their Maroon jerseys on, the cabs have even got maroon stuff there."
NSW head to Brisbane looking to become just the fourth team to win a series on the opposition's patch, but standing in their way is a Maroons side boosted by the return of talisman skipper Darren Lockyer.
"It would be a sweet victory wouldn't it _ playing up there, against Locky, they're going to feed off that, they're going to feed off the home crowd, they're going to feed off being one down," Buderus said.
"You can only imagine the hostility of the opening exchanges, I don't think it will disappoint."
While the Origin trophy won't be presented until game three in Sydney, which will be Buderus' NSW swansong, the Blues skipper said he would love the opportunity to hold it aloft next Wednesday night.
* NSW centre Mark Gasnier has been cleared to play in next week's Origin clash.
Gasnier had been in doubt with a hamstring injury.
- AAP
