STATE OF ORIGIN: Blues captain Jake Trbojevic vows NSW will temper aggression in Origin tinderbox as Phil Gould warns of tough opening 20 minutes

NSW have vowed that they will be able to fight fire with fire in the State of Origin decider, without risking going down to 12 men at Suncorp Stadium.

Queensland are expected to make an early statement in Wednesday night’s decider, amid claims they were bullied by NSW during the 38-18 loss in Melbourne.

Blues great Phil Gould on Monday night predicted the opening 20 minutes could be a “tinderbox” situation, with both teams likely to take a “kill-or-be-killed” mentality.

It was only two years ago that the last major scuffle in rugby league broke out, with Dane Gagai landing a flurry of punches on Matt Burton in the 2022 decider.

Both Gagai and Burton ended up in the sin bin, with the Blues furious at the time that they also went down to 12 men.

Gagai will return for his first game back in maroon in Brisbane, while NSW also have firebrands Spencer Leniu and Mitch Barnett on their bench.

But regardless, Blues captain Jake Trbojevic said his team would be able to stand up to Queensland without risking going down a man with the automatic sin bin for punching.

The Maroons are yet to have a man sin-binned in this series, while NSW Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii sent off in Origin I and Liam Martin sat down in Origin II.

“It is definitely a priority to have 13 men on,” Trbojevic said.

“So I think it’s just about being physical but you have to do it in a rugby league sense.

“Just go after them defensively, keep them in their own end and and try to win field position.

“But you definitely don’t want to be down to 12 men. That doesn’t work for us. It doesn’t work for anyone.”

Queensland were believed to be unhappy with several plays in game two, including a shove on Reece Walsh when the ball was dead, hair pull on Jaydn Su’A and a Stephen Crichton grapple tackle on Daly Cherry-Evans.

But NSW coach Michael Maguire said that if the Maroons retaliate, his side would be able to control the rage.

“It’s pretty straight forward. The game has changed, it has shifted,” Maguire said.

“You have to play from where it’s at.

“Our boys had to go through 74 minutes where we didn’t have a player on the field (in Origin I).

“If that’s not going to tell you anything, you have to learn from that. Albeit that was a tough moment, that was an accident.”

The pair’s comments come after former Blues coach Gould predicted fireworks early on Wednesday.

“Right from the beginning of Origin and throughout the decades Origin football has been a kill-or-be-killed mentality,” Gould said on the Nine Network’s 100% Footy.

“It has been an attitude of ‘retaliate first’. Don’t wait to get hit, get in first.

“The game has been somewhat sanitised over the years ... But they are playing for keeps.

“Queensland will be determined not to lose it in the first 20 minutes and NSW won’t want to give up the ascendancy ... It is going to be a tinderbox up there.”