NSW prop Brent Kite says he wants to prove himself in the State of Origin arena and is determined to reproduce his Clive Churchill Medal performance for the Blues in the series opener on Wednesday night.
The Test regular was overlooked for the NSW team last year but got the last laugh over coach Craig Bellamy with a man of the match effort in Manly's 40-0 drubbing of Bellamy's Melbourne side in the NRL grand final.
That performance left a lasting impression on Blues selectors who gave the 110kg prop a chance for Origin redemption against Queensland's twin towers Steve Price and Petero Civoniceva.
''It would be nice to have a big game and I'm looking to sort of have more of an impact than maybe I have in previous years,'' Kite said.
''[Clive Churchill Medal] is something that you have to try and live up to now. That is always hard but I'm looking to have a big game next week.''
Kite said he worried he would again be overlooked for the Blues this year after Manly's terrible start to 2009 and his own poor form this season.
However with Bellamy calling upon seven rookies for the series opener including Dragons duo Justin Poore and Michael Weyman Kite believes it was his experience of 14 Tests and eight Origins that swayed selection in his favour.
''I always thought I could get back here but it sort of happened that I didn't feel I had been going real good,'' he said.
''I think it's mainly for my experience that I've gotten back into the side and hopefully I can go well.
''Even as a spectator [in 2008] it was hard to go down to the Maroons.
''It is good to have a chance to do something about it this year.''
Kite is one of just five NSW players who has tasted Origin series success with Luke Bailey, Luke Lewis, Craig Wing and Jamie Lyon having also lifted the shield.
''The first series I played we won and probably you don't appreciate how hard it is to win an Origin series and we certainly found out the last two years that it's not easy,'' Kite said.
He liked the mix of the Blues line-up this year, likening the fact it has two props on the bench to the dynamic at the Sea Eagles when they claimed a record grand final victory.
''[With our pack] it is a similar style to the way we play at Manly,'' he said.
''I think it's a very effective way to play footy, especially with the calibre of players we have coming off the bench.
''I think they will really have a good impact.''
Queensland is prepared for an aggressive NSW pack to try anything in the Blues' desperation to avoid a fourth straight State of Origin series defeat.
As anticipation builds for the series opener at Docklands Stadium on Wednesday night, Queensland veteran Petero Civoniceva said the Maroons had forwards with enough experience and composure to handle anything thrown at them by a Blues pack with a lot to prove.
''I suppose the thought is there but that's State of Origin,'' Civoniceva said when asked if the young Blues might be tempted to make names of themselves with some Origin biff.
''We are thankful that as a pack we have been together for quite some time now and we are aware of some of the situations that might occur but we are ready for it.
''Within our pack especially there is a tremendous amount of experience there so I suppose if a situation like that occurs we have the right guys there with the right mindset to be able to handle it.'' AAP
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