NSW will unleash the game's most clinical tackling machine on Wednesday night, when teammates are tipping enforcer David Klemmer will intimidate Queensland in the State of Origin series decider.
Klemmer fractured his wrist in the Origin opener but recovered ahead of schedule and was called into the Blues camp for game three following Tariq Sims' suspension.
The Newcastle star's tackle numbers this season underline why so many pundits and players were shocked the front-rower was left out of the initial squad that coach Brad Fittler named for game three.
Klemmer has had five missed tackles and six non-effective tackles from 375 attempts this year, with his 97.1 per cent success rate the best in the NRL.
"Probably mindset," the 25-year-old said, when asked about the secret to efficiently stopping so many opponents.
"Wanting to win and not let your teammates down, that's probably a big part.
"I've got great coaches up at Newcastle who are really working hard on my defence ... I've really worked hard and big (Knights and NSW teammate) Daniel Saifiti has also worked hard on it, to get where he is today.
"But there's always stuff we can work on. You can never be happy with where you're at. Because once you have that mindset, that's when bad habits creep in."
Klemmer's injury failed to stop him recording a tackle efficiency of 96.8 per cent in this year's Origin opener.
The former Bulldogs star could start off the bench at ANZ Stadium, where the Blues will hunt back-to-back series wins for the first time since 2005.
But the big forward has already proven he can make a big impact from the bench, having claimed the Brad Fittler medal as the Blues' player of the year in 2017 despite coming off the bench for the entire series.
"He's just an intimidating figure and awesome to have in your side," NSW fullback James Tedesco said.
"He doesn't take a backwards step. Running out alongside him is massive for us ... it's really good to have him back."
Tedesco and Klemmer both admitted the carrot of consecutive series wins was "massive" but it was important their team focused on the things that matter to ensure it was within reach on Wednesday.
"We haven't really talked about it too much. We don't want to put pressure on ourselves or think about that, get ahead of ourselves," Tedesco said.
"We've just focused a lot on game two, what we did well and what we can improve on, but to be part of that would be awesome."
