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On the surface, the build up to Wednesday's decider has all the makings of a classic State of Origin story.
We have a New South Wales team riding high after a thumping Origin II victory and a Queensland side retreating to Lang Park with everything to prove, their backs against the wall and nobody to rely on but one another.
We have old Maroon heroes being recalled to serve the state one last time, stars being rushed back in despite barely returning from injury, a siege mentality in full effect and, as the game creeps closer, underdog status seemingly assured.
It's a familiar tale, one Queenslanders never get sick of telling because usually it only ends one way — with the Maroons lifting the shield.
But this time it feels less comfortable because Queensland have not had the adversity thrust upon them. For the first time in many years, they are almost forcing it on themselves.
This begins with the exclusion of David Fifita, the most controversial Maroons non-selection since Daly Cherry-Evans' temporary exile from the side almost a decade ago.
But at least then Queensland were turning to a bevy of talented playmakers like Ben Hunt or Cameron Munster. It could be explained away as a stylistic choice.
This time around, in a team with already thin forward stocks, the Maroons are overlooking a player who would immediately strengthen a weakness and the reasons for his omission that still remain unclear.
Coach Billy Slater has not offered concrete reasons for excluding Fifita beyond an implication the Titans forward was still working his way back to the standard he set last year after missing the first few weeks of the season through injury.
Given Slater has turned to Kurt Capewell instead, that reasoning is difficult to understand. Capewell has been a fine performer for Queensland in the past but he's struggled to crack the Warriors starting side this year and is only a few games back from injury himself.
He struggled with the pace of the game off the bench in Melbourne and, with no clear second row cover on the bench, will now be asked to play close to 80 minutes in Brisbane.
Fellow selector Darren Lockyer was a little more forthcoming on Fifita, identifying that he made errors and decisions under fatigue that could be exposed at Origin level.
That may be so, but sticking with Jeremiah Nanai when Nanai averages more missed tackles, errors, break causes and try causes than Fifita means we are hardly dealing with a horse of a different colour.
The Fifita saga, which is the decision on which Slater's coaching reputation may well swing, is hardly the only selection query for the Maroons.
Slater was forced to deny reports he is not seeing eye-to-eye with Selwyn Cobbo after the Broncos flyer was omitted from Origin II, Jaydn Su'A can count himself unlucky to be dropped and after Queensland were outmuscled in Origin Melbourne the decision to stick with a hooker and a utility back on the bench is a risky one, even if that utility back is Kalyn Ponga.
Ponga's selection may give us an insight into Slater's plan for Wednesday. Assuming there are no injuries in the outside backs, expect the Maroons to play as fast and as wide as possible as they attempt to use their speed and mobility to negate New South Wales' muscular power rather than confront it head-on.
It's an interesting idea, but also an unorthodox one. Queensland have had success with a smaller pack in Slater's first two series in charge, but it's never been this small and such an expansive style of play is a high risk, high reward scenario.
As all radical choices do, this Maroons team has divided their fanbase. Seeing Queenslanders anything but unified is an unusual sight at Origin time and it plays into why the underdog tag does not sit as comfortably as it has in the past.
Whenever Queensland are backed into a corner, they only become stronger. In their finest hours, like 1995 or 2020 or even the previous decider in 2022, belief in one another in an attempt to defy the odds was not a choice at all, but a way of living.
The Maroons do some of their best work when they're out of options and some unheralded players must rise to the challenge or an old warhorse must answer the call of duty one last time.
But this time they have not been backed into that corner, they have seemingly retreated to it of their own accord.
Slater and company are saying all the right things about the Maroons spirit and the Origin way and Queensland playing like Queensland because they are full of Queenslanders.
They are trusting their legend to save them, but it feels like they're forcing choices to activate that legend.
Queensland still have the talent and the spirit to win, but they're taking an already difficult task and making it even harder and that, normally, is how New South Wales operate during times of distress.
The Blues, by comparison, have enjoyed a positively Queensland-type build-up. They will likely warm into favouritism with the bookies by kick-off and yet the pressure feels light.
There have been no selection wildcards that have required justification, no talk of legacies going on the line and no legend they need to live up to even as they try to become just the third New South Wales side to even win a decider on Queensland soil.
Loading...Like it has for much of the series, the plan for Michael Maguire's side feels very clear. The style of play they showed in Melbourne is a simple one to replicate. The forwards will be mean enough to scare a starving dog off a meat truck.
The back five will churn through metres and drive the side up the field. Mitchell Moses will play both sides of the field and challenge the Queensland defenders whenever possible.
This is a team with few jagged edges, one which has prioritised certainty and precision over all else compared to Queensland's quick-strike, knockout attacking weapons.
On the field, Origin III will come down to Blue power against Maroon speed. Like the best games, it has the potential to become even bigger and more complex than that simple dynamic.
But it's hard to know with any certainty if it will. The framework of the path to this decider might feel familiar but in truth we're off the edge of the map.
A confident, under-the-radar Blues team is a rare beast, as is an uncertain Maroons team who are playing with something short of unconditional support from the faithful.
After four decades of Origin it's difficult to find a new spin on the old rivalry but somehow it's been managed. What was true in 1980 remains true now though – only one of the states can survive.