Martin backing Blues to rewrite 30-year Origin history

Blues forward Liam Martin said his side can achieve "something special" and rewrite a 30-year record by taking down the Maroons on home soil to win back the Origin shield in Game Three.

Not since 1994 have New South Wales lost Game One and gone on to win the following two games on the road to clinch the series, with the Phil Gould-coached side winning games in Melbourne and Brisbane after a sensational defeat in Sydney – the same schedule that Michael Maguire's side face this year.

Should they triumph at the rugby league cauldron on July 17, the Blues would become 11th team in history to recover from 1-0 down to win the Origin series and the first New South Wales side to win a series decider at Suncorp since 2005.

“We’re going to build on that performance. We’ve shown what we’re capable of and we can go to another level," Martin said after the game.

“As soon as we finished that game, we said job’s not done, we’ll keep building. We’ll learn from a couple of the second half mistakes and we’ll come back even bigger and stronger. We just had a feeling this game that we were building towards something special and that first half reflected that.

"The whole week we’ve been training exceptional. We train with an intensity, but also the calmness that the boys all brought was great."

“It can be done,” Maguire enthused in the post-game press conference.

“It can definitely be done. We’ve shown that. If this group gets together like they have in this game, there’s no reason it can’t happen.”

Martin was part of a forward pack that dominated the match, particularly during the first half, when the Blues' 34-0 lead became the greatest margin at half-time in Origin history.

His try in the 10th minute was the first of the game and opened the floodgates for what was to come.

“I didn’t have to do too much!” he joked, referring to the pinpoint try assist from Mitchell Moses – one of four from the star halfback on the night.

“To get over first it was pretty incredible. I can’t put into words how much it means to represent the Blues jersey, and score a try and get the win.

“It’s actually incredible running out to 90,000 people [at the MCG], it’s an incredible arena to play at. It's really special to play here.”

The game didn’t go all Martin's way, with the second-rower sent to the sin bin in the second half alongside Queensland’s Patrick Carrigan – a decision that Maguire described as “interesting” post-match.

He was also charged with dangerous contact on Daly Cherry-Evans in the 66th minute, and will face a fine of seven percent of his match fee as a result.

However, there was little to dampen the spirits of the Panther from the Riverina, who had an impassioned message for Blues fans ahead of Game Three.

“We do it for you guys,” he expressed. “We represent you and we just want to make you proud and get behind us and believe, and then we’ll get out there and get the job done and celebrate in Brisbane”

“I’m really excited to get up there and get the job done.”