NSW legend Brad Fittler has accused Laurie Daley's Blues of lacking a killer instinct after failing to close out the State of Origin series in game two.
Fittler had a blunt appraisal of NSW after they gave up a 16-6 halftime lead on home soil and will be under pressure to win next month's decider in Brisbane.
He said they failed to demonstrate a hard edge, pointing to the way they had shown sympathy for rookie Queensland prop Tim Glasby, who was savaged in the Sydney press, and prop Andrew Fifita's complaining about the Maroons' sledging.
"They've got to find something. I think they lacked the killer, there was no killer," Fittler told the Sunday Footy Show.
"Leading into the game we showed compassion towards Tim Glasby, I thought that showed no sign of killer. We just don't have it. Even the look sometimes in the eyes of Queensland.
"Andrew Fifita comes off and says players were sledging him. So what? Leave it on the field. Save it for the next game, you don't have to tell anyone. Let that drive you. Now that it's out of his soul, hopefully he finds something else to fire up about."
Fellow Blues great Andrew Johns laid the loss at the feet of NSW's ill discipline after they lost the penalty count 6-4.
On several occasions the Queenslanders were given piggybacks out of their own end by cheap penalties, several of those lead to points.
Valentine Holmes' first try came after James Maloney was penalised for an off-the-ball hit on Billy Slater while the Maroons' field position to score Dane Gagai's winning four-pointer came off Wade Graham being pinged for stripping the ball from Dylan Napa deep in Queensland's half.
"All of Queensland points were off set starts - off penalties or scrums," Johns said.
"So if NSW get through their sets and have the best discipline, then they win the game.
"The way Cooper Cronk plays and the way he brings Slater into the game, he needs that set start so he can get his plays on and he can play from that memory.
"They scored one try that was off the (Josh) McGuire break, every other try was off penalties and set starts. That's a big area - the discipline of the Blues. A few times they had them in the corner and they raked the ball. That's just discipline."
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