NSW coach Brad Fittler admits if the shoe was on the other foot, he'd target his untested State of Origin halves pairing too.
Fittler has kept with halfback Nathan Cleary for game one this year, despite his failure to steer Penrith off the bottom off the ladder after 11 rounds.
But Cleary will be partnered with South Sydney star Cody Walker, who is arguably the most in-form playmaker in the competition with a league-high 11 tries.
It will be the Blues' 22nd halves combination in 40 Origin games, stemming all the way back to eighth immortal Andrew Johns' final game for in 2005.
The newest pairing has prompted some critics to call for Queensland to take aim at what is yet another unproven duo in the interstate arena.
And Fittler can't disagree, saying he'd pin a bullseye on their heads as well.
"I would too," Fittler said.
"Obviously it's really obvious with Penrith and Nathan, what's going on there. (But) we're very confident what he's going to do."
"Cody Walker, I just met Cody really a couple of days ago. I don't know Cody that well but he looks like he's totally focused, there's a level of maturity about Cody.
"I think we're going to need that next Wednesday."
After handing 11 debuts last year, Fittler has continued with his youth movement by dishing out a further three maiden Blues jumpers for game one.
Cameron Murray, Payne Haas and Nick Cotric are all set for their first Origin.
However Fittler insisted all three are ready for the limelight, having previously coached them at under-18s level in 2016.
Murray was the skipper in a game where they thrashed a Queensland side that boasted Corey Allan, Gehamat Shibasaki and Lachlan Lam 26-0.
"I've had a bit to do with the fact they've come through the pathways so I know them personally, as I've coached them before," Fittler said.
"It just amazes me, you still gotta walk around the corner and you see how young they are, they just handle it so well.
"We had 11 unproven last year and another five this year, maybe our team's unproven."
