He gambled on his team selection for the State of Origin opener and now NSW coach Brad Fittler will need to bet the house on a host of unknowns as the Blues bid to keep the series alive.
Downed 26-18 in Adelaide by the never-say-die Queenslanders, Fittler will have to consider radical changes if he is to avoid defeat at Suncorp Stadium on June 21 and extend his tenure into 2024.
Fittler wanted his side to be more aggressive and powerful after they were intimidated off the park in last year’s decider.
The NSW coach picked the untried duo of Hudson Young and Tevita Pangai Jr in the pack and neither were able to impose themselves on the game.
They also lacked the intimidating presence of Latrell Mitchell after the bulldozing centre was ruled out on Monday with a calf injury.
"It’s a fair way away," Fittler said of his team selection for Game II.
"We’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks, we’ll go from there.
"I’ll catch up with him (Mitchell) over the next couple of days, he sent the boys a message and said things were going pretty good - hopefully he’s fit and ready to be picked."
Question marks over the potential selection of Mitchell, Pangai Jr and Young will cause Fittler plenty of consternation over the next fortnight before he names his next squad.
Centre Tom Trbojevic failed his head injury assessment after a high shot from Tom Flegler and, due to Manly’s schedule, won’t have a game to prove his fitness before the Game II teams are named on June 12.
The roles of halfback Nathan Cleary and skipper James Tedesco are also expected to come under scrutiny for the first time in Fittler's NSW tenure.
The Blues' star duo head to Brisbane later this month knowing that NSW have never saved a series by winning in Queensland.
The stakes are high for Fittler because if he wins a series he will earn himself a contract extension.
But the coach will need to get everything right, particularly his bench composition and rotation where has been schooled by Billy Slater.
Pangai's second stint lasted just eight minutes, Young got half an hour and the usually durable Payne Haas was restricted to limited minutes.
"That's what 'Freddy' wants, he's the coach and I'll do my job," said Haas, who was confident good mate Pangai had done enough to retain his berth.
"I thought he (Pangai) was good for his first game, he came out physically and that's what we needed to do."
There will also be a focus on Cronulla halfback Nicho Hynes, who was promised a run at hooker on debut, but only got onto the field when covering for Trbojevic at centre.
"There was always the option at hooker, but I thought Api (Koroisau) was doing a good job there," Fittler said.
The Blues host the third and final game of the series at Sydney's Accor Stadium on July 12.
