Cordner was left in tears after a similar position last year when, in his first series as captain, the Blues won the series-opener and had a 10-point lead in game two before their spectacular choke.

He has tried to bury the demons of the defeat, but admits it is critical for this year's side to heed the lessons of throwing away what was supposed to be the dawn of a new era.

"I don't like thinking back on it to tell you the truth. I tried to bury it, but look, it's there," Cordner told AAP.

"It happened. You've got to take some lessons out of that.

"Complacency definitely won't be an issue. I'm sure that you'll see 17 guys prepared to go out there on Sunday night and give it their best."

Despite having Queensland on their knees at different stages in game one, Blues coach Brad Fittler has already told his squad how they missed opportunities with the ball in Melbourne.

And with Queensland now in a must-win situation - as well as the memories of last year haunting Cordner's head - NSW have been instructed to go for the throat.

Last year was just the second time in the past nine years the team that won game one lost the shield.

"The main one for me was when we found ourselves up in the second half, what we done so well as a team at the start of that series, we went away from," Cordner said of last year's game-two.

"We tried to hold onto the game instead of going after it.

"For me, that's the biggest lesson. Just keep doing what's been working and with the team we've got now, there's no doubt we'll be doing our best to go after the game no matter where we're sitting."

With camp just two days old, Cordner insists the signs point to a Blues team ready for the challenge.

"Just coming into camp already and knowing the feeling, they're more hungry than what they were in game one. That's a good sign with it being a short week as well," he said.

Australian Associated Press