Billy Slater has admitted home ground advantage will mean nothing if the Queensland Maroons can't put on a better performance in Game 3 of this year's State of Origin series.
The Maroons were caught well short during Game 2 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday evening, slumping to the heaviest halftime margin in the concept's history.
After being down 34-0 at the break, Queensland began to turn things around in the second stanza, but ultimately never got close to the Blues who kicked clear to confirm there would be a live decider, having lost Game 1 on their own home deck three weeks ago.
The Blues have had less than an ideal time at the Brisbane ground over the journey, with Queensland making it something of a fortress, and while Slater admitted it would be a special game to be part of, he was unconvinced the Maroons could use home ground advantage to win without improvement.
"We know what Suncorp is, it's a great venue, brings a great atmosphere. It's a decider. They are great games to be part of. We have been fortunate enough to be part of those sort of games and there was one there a couple of years ago," Slater said during his post-game press conference after Game 2.
"It [home ground advantage] doesn't mean anything though unless we address what happened in the first half."
The coach did, however, suggest some of his players would be able to use 2022 as an experience to draw off when Queensland were hammered in Perth during Game 2, only to head back to Brisbane for Game 3 and take a win.
"That's an experience that some players in this group have been through. That was a tough night over in Perth and things snowballed against us on that night as well. We are going back to the same venue, so we will see how we go," Slater said.
Blues coach Michael Maguire, who faces an uphill task with his team though, said winning the decider in Brisbane can be done.
"The funny thing about this group is that they don't really look into any of that. They are just working hard on helping each other out and working for each other. Wherever you have to go and play, you have to go and play. This group, they are looking internally rather than looking externally. It's something we will talk about, but ultimately, it's the same field you have to and play and they found their game tonight. That's what we have to take forward," Maguire said.
"One thing is it [winning a decider in Brisbane] can be done. We have shown that. If the group gets together like they did in this game, there is no reason why that can't happen."
The last time New South Wales won a decider in Brisbane was in 2005. Since then, Brisbane has hosted Game 3 on ten occasions, with Queensland winning deciders in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2022. The other four occasions have all been dead rubbers.
Game 3 will be played on Wednesday, July 17.
