NSW Origin backs say they can party like it's 2021

After missing 2022 through injury or omission, Tom Trbojevic, Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr will play together for the first time in two years on Wednesday night.

Along with James Tedesco and Brian To'o, the Blues' backline will enter Adelaide Oval with a combined 35 Origin tries to their name.

No other back-five combination in NSW's history have totalled as many tries.

So much of the Blues' preparation has been about defence.

Andrew Johns said on Friday it had made up around 80 per cent of training, after the Blues were beaten in the grind in Game I last year.

But NSW are well aware of the attacking arsenal they have at their disposal.

The last time the quintet played together, they piled on scores of 52-6 and 26-0 to wrap the 2021 series up, before letting their guard down in the dead rubber.

The NRL competition has tightened since the points-scoring frenzy that was the 2021 season.

The average points per game have dropped from 46.3 to 42.9 this year, while winning margins are down from 18.3 to 12.1.

But the Blues' back five are adamant they can play the same way they did two years ago.

"Origin footy hasn't changed too much," Tedesco told AAP.

"There's still not as many penalties. The ball is in play a lot. There is live ball back and forth. There is a lot of fatigue in an Origin game compared to a usual NRL game.

"They always say Origin football is a lot faster than the NRL. That creates more fatigue as well. There is definitely more chance for broken play and linebreaks.

"That creates opportunities for Turbo (Trbojevich) to come through the middle, Latrell on the outside, Foxx (Addo-Carr) on the outside as well. It's definitely similar.

"But you can't just think it's going to come or it's going to happen. We have to create it, work hard, go set-for-set and look for opportunities on the back of some momentum."

Halfback Nathan Cleary is also confident such dominant attack is not out of the question.

"It is possible if you lay the right foundation," Cleary said.

"Origin is always a different game. Less penalties, less stoppages. It is very fast-paced. You can definitely get that footy on if you want to, but it's just about building it.

"You can't just go out there and expect it's just going to happen like that."

The chances of the Blues breaking the game open will rest on no one more than Trbojevic.

His record-breaking 2021 season summed up the lopsided year best, and he scored a hat-trick of tries in that year's Origin series opener as a roaming centre.

His battle to find the same open spaces with Manly this year has been well documented, but NSW believe he can recapture his 2021 form.

"I definitely don't think it will be as open as two years ago, but you can attack it with a similar philosophy," Trbojevic said.

"You just might not get as many opportunities. It goes back to the fact we are all footy players, and we'll all play what we see."

Australian Associated Press