NSW Blues hooker Damien Cook has thrown his full support behind Brad Fittler as coach, insisting he should remain as coach beyond 2023.
While losses normally fall on the shoulders of the coach, Cook believes the players should take responsibility, and the honus is on them and not Fittler.
This comes after the Blues have already failed to win this year's series after losses in the opening two games in Adelaide and Brisbane.
His comments come after Alex McKinnon threw Sam Burgess' name in the ring as a potential replacement for Fittler after this year's series.
While Burgess didn't represent either New South Wales or Queensland, he is currently an assistant coach with the Rabbitohs and has been brought in as a mentor in previous NSW Origin camps.
“I think he'll be here next year and I think he needs to be,” Cook exclaimed.
“We're the ones going out there, we're the ones doing the plays, making tackles, all that sort of stuff.
“I haven't been involved with a better coach that knows how to build you up for a game and get you ready, but for us, it's been what we done on the field.
“We had a very simple game plan and we couldn't do it. That is nothing to do with the coaches, we knew what it was and if you'd seen it, it was very simple and we couldn't execute it.
“You have all the quality players in here, so it's up to us to nail that and we should be much better, especially at this level. It's up to us in Game III.”
The NSW Blues will be hoping they don't get white-washed by Queensland when they compete against them on Wednesday night.