A lot of it also had to do with the appointment of new coach Brad Fittler and his coaching staff led by Blues vets Greg Alexander and Danny Buderus. Fittler was a winner as a player – won grand finals at two different clubs, hardly lost a game while wearing the green and gold and came back as an “old bloke” to score the winning charge-down try in the 2004 Origin series. If anyone in blue would ever “get” Origin, it would be Freddy.

For the past decade and a bit New South Wales has been easy fodder for those maroon people up north. To them, the post-match panel arguments and which-hunts between luminaries like Gus Gould, Joey Johns and Paul Vautin about what went wrong for the Blues must’ve been real get-the-popcorn-out stuff … Watching these New South Welshmen harp on about one day actually winning an Origin series when they just don’t get it.

A change of selection philosophy based on in-form players hinted that the Blues might finally be "getting" State of Origin. (Photo by Getty Images)

And sure enough, as the 2018 series arrived, us blue folk were still at it, evidenced by remarks by Maroons stalwart Chris Close on the Fox League TV show Queenslanders Only ahead of the series opener. Close was astonished that a Blues legend like Paul Gallen, no less, could be complaining about the non-selection of certain players for Origin 1.

“That would never happen in Queensland; it’s just not part of our fabric, it’s not what we do,” quoted John Dean of Choppy for Fox Sports. “They don’t get it, and as long as they continue to do that, we’re a chance.”

Inside Sport’s weekly rugby league podcast, Dead In Goal, had a very intriguing guest on its show last week, Queensland hardman Kevin Campion. When the talk got around to Origin, the four-time Maroon had an interesting take on where the Blues were at, and why it was starting to worry Queenslanders.