Laurie Daley's NSW Origin troops armed with self-belief THERE comes a time when you have to stop admiring your opposition and approach them as equals. And it was Robbie Farah who led the way. I want Cameron Smith's Australian number 9 jersey. The hide. The cheek. Serial stirrer Benny Elias backed it up a day later. Robbie Farah has gone past Cameron Smith as the best hooker in the game. Publicly Cameron Smith, as cool a man who's ever pulled on a jersey, laughed it off, but Queensland teammates tell me he was livid. He viewed it as a slight. The Queenslanders cut the quotes out and pinned them all over the hotel walls. Smith is, in my opinion, the best big game performer of the modern era. So was Farah's statement disrespectful to a man of Smith's standing? Queenslanders will say yes. Sydneysiders will say, no way. I say about time. Farah's bold words signalled an intent, a confidence the Blue jersey has lacked for too many years. A team containing four future Immortals is all too easy to admire, but that respect and admiration has brought us nothing but misery and given this record breaking Queensland squad not only a sense of superiority but a view of us as nothing more than a meek sideshow as they bludgeon their way to series win after series win. But from the moment Laurie Daley gathered his NSW team, there was a sense the respect and admiration was over. Close enough, no longer good enough, Daley deserves huge credit. It's easy to underestimate an unassuming man but this Blues coach contains a tremendous quiet strength. He deliberately picked a pack of forwards based on speed and energy to blow through the ageing Queensland pack - and it paid dividends. From the kick-off NSW had too much speed, too much footwork, too much energy and too much desire. They made Queensland look old. All Daley's decisions worked perfectly. The Blues' greater speed aided their defence enormously, they suffocated the Maroons' attack. I've never seen this Queensland team struggle so much with the football. They couldn't get forward momentum, they couldn't find rhythm, they lacked continuity and, amazingly for a team that has played so much football together, they lacked understanding. All Daley's key selections were superb. James Maloney was exactly the composed, clear-minded playmaker we hoped he'd be. Blake Ferguson was put under pressure and was all class. It's onwards and upwards for Blake. While Andrew Fifita's Origin debut was one of the best we've seen from a Blues player. But Daley also took some risks in the build-up, which proved to be masterstrokes. Firstly he returned the Blues team to a more traditional build-up. They spent the first few days getting to know each other and simply enjoying one another's company. They held schooner glasses rather than footballs, they relaxed and they laughed. Even when Daley got the players down to business it was a far more relaxed camp. When the players were interviewed they smiled rather than grimaced, they exuded a calm confidence rather than a steely glare. For the Blues' final training session, he discarded the traditional night session and instead let the players train just after lunch. Daley knew the conditions would be different but wanted the players to have as much rest as possible and to arrive at ANZ with fresh legs. Fresh they were. The way the two sides entered the Stadium was telling. The Maroons, like an old boxing champion. They strolled on to the field slowly, stood silently and held a calm demeanour. The Blues exploded out of the tunnel. They clapped their hands, they sprinted, they stepped, they acknowledged the crowd. They signalled their intent, they were there to win. And while on the subject of intentions, what about Paul Gallen's straight left to Nate Myles' jaw? Myles' tactic of leading with his head was a hot talking point from the last series and early in the contest he used the tactic once again on Jarryd Hayne. Soon after Gallen caught up with Myles and, after a brief discussion, hit first and hit often. Gallen was to tell us during an interview with Triple M, "We aren't going to be bullied any more." Daley, described it as "a great Origin moment." I see it as a turning point.