Dolphins head coach, and former Queensland Maroons coach Wayne Bennett has revealed the state's biggest advantage for this year's State of Origin decider will be playing at Suncorp Stadium.
The Maroons have a wonderful record playing at home, but even more so in the deciding match of a State of Origin series.
The most recent deciders at Suncorp - 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2022 - have all gone the way of Queensland, while the Blues have only managed two wins in a live Game 3 at the old Lang Park venue dating all the way back to 1980.
That makes the size of the challenge for Michael Maguire's side historically insurmountable, although they take all the momentum into the clash on Wednesday thanks to their smashing win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which ultimately saw them break the Origin record for the biggest halftime lead.
Despite that, Bennett, speaking at a press conference before the Dolphins' clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs this weekend, said that playing at home was like a 14th man for Queensland, with the crowd to keep the players 'engaged'.
"The greatest advantage Queensland has got is Suncorp. The one thing you know is that the crowd will be behind that team," Bennett said during a press conference.
"That makes such a difference. It is like probably playing with 14 guys on the field. The crowd gets engaged and it helps keep the players highly motivated. It is fortunate that they get to come back and play that last game here and the stats tell you how dominant we have been in the last game here, in those deciders.
"The stats are made up of a number of years of performances and what they are saying is New South Wales haven't won many games when it mattered most."
Despite Bennett's comments, head coach Billy Slater has acknowledged the state needs to be better at home, or it simply won't matter where the game is being played.
Slater is under the pump after again choosing to overlook Gold Coast Titans' star second-rower David Fifita for the decider, which kicks off at 8:05pm (AEST) on Wednesday.
