Queensland captain Darren Lockyer refuses to write off an injury-hit NSW ahead of Wednesday night's crucial State of Origin clash because history shows pre-match adversity can work in a team's favour.
The Blues were on Monday forced to rule out Origin I star Craig Wing with a hamstring injury, the
Rabbitohs utility becoming the latest in a long line of injury-related setbacks for NSW.
Wing's withdrawal has forced Blues coach Craig Bellamy to blood his 10th Origin debutant this season in Bulldogs centre Josh Morris.
Centre Michael Jennings succumbed to a calf injury on Thursday while Robbie Farah (ribs), Trent Barrett (back spasms), Jamie Lyon (ankle) and Paul Gallen (shoulder) have all had disrupted preparations.
But Lockyer was quick to dismiss talk of the Blues being down and out after suffering their worst lead-up to an Origin game in history.
The representative five-eighth was quick to recall the Maroons' severely-disrupted preparations of 2007.
The squad endured 48 hours of power failure on the NSW Central Coast during their storm-ravaged camp, which saw three training sessions cancelled.
But rather than being a distraction, Lockyer claims adversity brought the side closer together and was a key factor in Queensland's victory in game two over the Blues, which saw them wrap up the series.
"In your preparations sometimes things are out of your control, like with us a couple of years ago with the blackouts," Lockyer said on Monday.
"(Adversity) does galvanise a team, just because they've had a poor preparation doesn't mean it's going to make our job any easier."
Lockyer also recalled game one of 2006 where the Blues thrived as underdogs.
"I remember a few years ago, (Brett) Finch got called in late and they ended up winning the game by a point, with Finch kicking the (winning) field goal.
"So at the end of the day, what counts is what happens in those 80 minutes on Wednesday night.
"We can't control their preparation, we can only control ours and this week again, we've been fortunate, (but) we can't just think that's going to translate into a good performance."
With Queensland chasing an historic fourth straight Origin series win, Lockyer admitted that Wing's impact during the second half of game one sparked the Blues' comeback and troubled the Maroons' defence.
And while acknowledging the South Sydney star's withdrawal was a massive blow to the Blues camp, the Broncos captain nominated Parramatta fullback Jarryd Hayne as their main danger.
"You've got to expect the unexpected with Jarryd, he's just a class player as you saw in game one and what he did," Lockyer said.
"I guess we've got to be particularly good with him when he's got the football and make sure that we limit his opportunities."
- AAP
Queensland captain Darren Lockyer refuses to write off an injury-hit NSW ahead of Wednesday night's crucial State of Origin clash because history shows pre-match adversity can work in a team's favour.
The Blues were on Monday forced to rule out Origin I star Craig Wing with a hamstring injury, the
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