Injuries, health scares and underdog status - it was all pointing to another against-the-odds Queensland State of Origin triumph.
But somebody forgot to tell the NSW side, who turned Townsville's historic night into a historic Queensland hiding.
The Maroons' horror preparation followed them into the series opener on Wednesday in a 50-6 loss that was the Blues' biggest win.
Christian Welch was gone after just 12 minutes following a head clash and debutant Kyle Feldt then gift-wrapped the Blues' first try.
The winger inexplicably bumped opposite number Josh Addo-Carr off a ball the NRL's fastest man was never going to track down, the Blues scoring from the ensuing penalty.
Then Cameron Munster kicked on the last, not hearing the six-again call as they threatened an immediate reply.
Fumbles followed the hosts while Tariq Sims managed one of the passes of his career as the Blues crossed again.
Tom Trbojevic was as elusive and ever-present as Maroons fans feared, fellow centre Latrell Mitchell as devastating.
The Blues managed 23 line-breaks to the Maroons' 10, six missed tackles to the Maroons' 18, six line breaks to one and almost 50 more post-contact metres to lead 20-6 at halftime.
More senseless play from Joe Ofahengaue was followed by more Mitchell-Trbojevic brilliance to start the second half, the former grubbering to the latter for another try.
Trbojevic crossed again and Mitchell followed, Xavier Coates making a mess of a high ball as the blooper reel grew longer.
That man Trbojevic completed his triple, while reports on Feldt, Moeaki Fotuaika and Munster will ensure more headaches for first-year coach Paul Green ahead of Game II in Brisbane on June 27.
"It's easy to probably point at that (bad preparation)," Green conceded.
"But you can't sort of make any soft excuses.
"There's been times when teams have had that sort of preparation, but got it right on the night and, you know, trust that we've got some good players in our team and you hope that they were ready to play.
"But as a group, we weren't tonight, so that can contribute to it."
