Recalled New South Wales hooker Robbie Farah has hailed the belief within the Blues camp.
New South Wales are bidding to end Queensland's six-year domination of State of Origin.
And if NSW do manage to get off to the ideal start at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night, Farah believes it will be off the back of their efforts in last year's losing series.
After a narrow defeat in the 2011 opener at Suncorp Stadium the Blues levelled the series with an impressive 18-8 win at home in game two before the Maroons farewelled retiring skipper Darren Lockyer in style with a 34-24 win in the decider.
But while the campaign ultimately finished in yet another series defeat, Farah said the team took massive strides that he hopes will lead to NSW "making history by breaking the drought".
"There's definitely a lot of belief within this team," Farah said today.
"They built a lot of momentum last year even though the boys lost the series.
"I think they got that pride and that passion back in the state and I think all the supporters up there started to believe whereas probably in the past the NSW supporters thought we were that little bit behind.
"I think we closed that gap last year and now we've got to take that next step this year and win the series."
Farah insisted the team is not haunted by past results.
"We had a lot of down time earlier on in the week to get to know each other and some really good training sessions to be finished off tonight with our captain's run," he added.
"Our preparation up to this point in time couldn't have been any better and (I'm) really looking forward to tomorrow night.
"Personally it's not about me (and my recall), it's about this team and the past and I think I heard (coach) Ricky (Stuart) say it yesterday.
"There's nothing we can do about the past, it's about being part of creating history with this side and breaking that six-year drought and that's what we're here trying to achieve.
"We can be part of history or we can make history (and) this team wants to make history by breaking the drought."
Queensland's chances will depend largely on the performance of veteran prop Petero Civoniceva.
The 36-year-old knows that while experience is on his side his age means one bad performance will lead to questions being asked about his place in the side.
He said: "You live by the sword and I've put myself on the line again to go around one more time.
"I guess it's in the back of my mind that you run the risk, but for me all I know is that I want to make sure I perform as strongly as possible.
"I've always felt fortunate to be a part of these teams but you know how quickly you can see your demise on the back of one bad performance."
Maroons skipper Cameron Smith will definitely play after overcoming a bout of flu.
