All eyes were on three Test hopefuls from Queensland but the two frontrunners fell on their sword on a day belonging to two unheralded centurions in blue helmets.

NSW openers Nick Larkin (175 not out) and Daniel Hughes (116) scored sparkling centuries to open up a 328-run lead heading into the final day of a Sheffield Shield showdown at Manuka Oval on Sunday.

The Blues' all-star bowlers left storm clouds circling the selection boardroom as Mitchell Starc claimed Renshaw (6) and Josh Hazlewood nabbed Labuschagne (4). Joe Burns is still alive on 37* to add further intrigue to the fight for spots in the Test XI.

Larkin has waited four years for his second first class ton and the 290-ball effort was one to remember, allowing captain Peter Nevill to declare on 3-360 and give his quicks a crack at the Bulls, who are 2-51 at stumps.

"It’s been a long time coming and a frustrating string of games for me, getting some starts and not kicking on," Larkin said.

"For the guys who were set out there, there was a lot of responsibility on us to get the job done with the bat rather than leave it to other guys.

"It was a really nice moment, but [the mentality] was just get back into your work and keep batting."

NSW are on the cusp of ending a 10-match winless streak and their fate now rests in the hands of Starc, Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, and Pat Cummins as they tune up for a Test series against India.

In some corners the Blues' lull has been enjoyable, with rival pundits hoping a run of draws and defeats can quash the time-honoured claim that a baggy blue comes with a baggy green in a brown paper bag.

For the Blues, it is a myth they have grown tired of.

A glance over Australia's best XI shows the best bowling attack in the country hails from NSW, as do the country's premier two batsmen, albeit two men resigned to the humble surrounds of premier cricket this summer.

The state's ability to pump out Test players does little more than paper over the cracks which show they have won zero Shield titles since 2013-14, a record simply unacceptable by their lofty standards  - and Hughes is determined to turn things around.

"We don't get to have four Aussies bowl for us too often, so it really sets the game up for us nicely with eight wickets to get," Hughes said.

"It's breaking up nicely, there's a few cracks and bit of rough there for Gazza [Lyon]. It's a big day for us [on Monday], we'd love to get our first win of the year so hopefully we take all of our chances."

As the Australian attack hunts for more scalps on day four, Queensland's frontrunners will be left to rue what might have been.

With the clock ticking down to December 6, picking the squad for the first Test just got a whole lot harder.

SHEFFIELD SHIELD

Stumps, day three: NSW 279 (M Henriques 152; M Steketee 4-38) and 3-360 (N Larkin 175*; M Swepson 2-133) lead QLD 260 (M Neser 62, N Lyon 4-83) and 2-51 (J Burns 37*; J Hazlewood 1-8) by 328 runs at Manuka Oval.