NSW have hailed Brad Fittler's phone ban as the glue which has brought the side together and helped break Queensland's State of Origin stranglehold.
Utility Tyrone Peachey has admitted he at times felt "naked" without his phone while back-rower Tyson Frizell described the experience as an eye-opener.
During team camp, Fittler instituted a ban on the use of mobile phones at all times when players were around each other.
That included training, team meetings, functions and bonding sessions.
He instituted the same policy during NSW City camps and adopted it during his debut series as Blues coach.
"When you're around the team he doesn't want you sitting there on your phone, you have to actually talk to your teammates," Peachey said.
"It's a bit weird and you feel a bit naked without it.
"I'm used to it now, I've been in three camps."
Peachey said many of the players, including himself, had struggled to get by without having their phones to amuse themselves and keep in contact with the outside world.
However he said it had helped him open his eyes and forge a connection with his Blues teammates in the short time they had together.
"Even when I get back to Penrith, I don't feel like I need to take my phone out when I'm around the boys, it helps a lot and you kind of have to talk to people," Peachey said.
Frizell said it had helped him revive the lost art of conversation and get on the same page as his Blues teammates.
"It has been pretty different, you don't realise how much you do rely on your phone," Frizell said.
"To take that away every now and then and use your mouth and talk to one another is pretty different for some of us."
