New South Wales have declared the State of Origin series is not a lost cause as they attempt to pick up the pieces from Wednesday's 38-10 loss to Queensland.
The Blues were up against it following Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'I's send off for a high tackle on Reece Walsh after just eight minutes but have taken heart from how long they stayed in the contest.
While a Maroons victory always felt in the offing, it wasn't until Ben Hunt's second try of the night in the 66th minute that the score totally blew out, which New South Wales will take to heart as they look to level the series in Melbourne later this month.
"Belief is strong and we're just asking the whole state of New South Wales to believe and get behind us. We've got our back against the wall and we're going to fight," said backrower Liam Martin.
"We have to keep believing. The connection and the spirit we've built, that hasn't wavered. We'll fight, we're just asking the state to get behind us."
The Blues face the hardest of roads if they're to somehow save the series.
New South Wales has only won the series after losing the first match on three occasions in Origin history.
Even if they are to win at the MCG, they'd face the prospect of having to win a decider at Lang Park, which they've done just twice since 1980.
Martin, who was asked to do the work of two men after Sua'ali'i's dismissal, provided some of the few highlights for the Blues with a series of heavy shots in defence.
He was critical of his own efforts but the Penrith backrower showed the spirit Michael Maguire's side will need if they're to somehow salvage the series.
"It's just red mist and effort, I get pretty fired up in the moment. Everyone had my back, as soon as I did one of those (tackles) the boys would be into it," Martin said.
"I was just trying to bring that physicality, that's a strength of my game, and I was trying to lift the team.
"I was defending on that edge and I probably let the boys down a little bit with a few crucial missed tackles.
"I thought we responded well and had each other's back, they ran away with it in the end but I thought we held the gloves up well."
With Sua'ali'I facing four to five weeks on the sidelines, he won't be making the trip to Melbourne but Roosters and Blues teammate James Tedesco declared the side would rally around the 20-year-old as best they could.
"Joey has a great head on his shoulders. He has so much family who are so proud of him.
"I'm proud to be his club captain and see him come through as a junior.
"It's not the way you imagine your debut to go, but we'll get around him as much as possible."
Tedesco's chances of adding to his 23 Origin caps is less clear.
The 31-year old was strong in yardage and crossed for his side's first try off a Jarome Luai kick but it may not be enough to stop Dylan Edwards earning his belated Origin debut in Game II.
The extent of the quad injury that ruled Edwards out of Game I and his recovery chances remain to be seen, but Tedesco was philosophical about his chances of holding onto the fullback jersey.
"I just wanted to lead by example," Tedesco said.
"But it's just hard, we were down a man and coming out of our own end, fatigue catches up to you, but the spirit of the Blues jersey was strong, Madge really wanted to bring that back and I definitely felt it out there.
"You never know when it'll be your last (Origin). It's a huge honour to play for New South Wales, I've been doing it for a long time now and I was feeling for Dyl, he definitely deserved this jersey because he'd been playing some awesome footy.
"But who knows in rugby league? Things just happen.
"It was a pretty crazy week, I just wanted to come in and enjoy it as much as possible. We'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks."
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