He declared the 50-6 destruction of the Queensland Maroons in Townsville ‘pretty special’, but NSW Blues boss Brad Fittler immediately moved to extinguish any trace of complacency following the Game 1 rout.
The Blues ran in eight-tries-to-one to record the biggest margin of victory by an away team in the history of the interstate series.
It was also the highest points total from a Blues team since the 2000 side, captained by Fittler, beat the Maroons 56-16.
The Blues are now one victory away from reclaiming the shield after their shock 2-1 series loss to the Wayne Bennett-coached Maroons last November.
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But Fittler, who is in his fourth series in charge of the Blues, sent a strong message to his troops ahead of Origin II at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, June 27.
“Yeah it is (satisfying) without a doubt but we haven’t won at Suncorp for three years now so that’s the challenge,” Fittler said.
“The challenge is Suncorp, we haven’t won there, so it’s a really big goal in front of us.”
Fittler shot down comparisons between Wednesday’s victory and the 56-16 victory in 2000 and reminded reporters his Blues have enjoyed one comfortable victory in each of his previous three series at the helm.
“This is Game 1, so I think that one was Game 3, so it’s a big difference,” Fittler said.
“We’ve had a convincing win every year, so we’re well aware nothing’s been achieved as yet.”
“A lot can happen in two weeks, so I wish all the players the best.”
He added: “Like I said we’ve won a game every year quite convincingly and if you go through those other games we won one with 12 players at the back-end of the game and the other one Teddy (James Tedesco) scored on the bell.
“So I’m quite aware that winning a game by 50 here in the first game doesn’t mean anything.”
Tedesco echoed the coach’s sentiments when asked if he expects the Maroons to bounce back in Brisbane.
“They’re going to be hurting, I think it’s going to be a different team in Game 2,” Tedesco said.
“Last year we lost Game 1 and came out firing in Game 2 so I’m sure it’ll be similar and it’s going to be at Suncorp as well which is always a tough task.
“It’s going to be a challenge, as Freddy said it was a convincing win but we’ve just got to win two more.”
