The NSW playmakers are eyeing off the captain's run on Tuesday as a chance to try and come to grips with the huge dimensions of the Melbourne Cricket Ground in order to make sure their kicking games can adapt to the large oval field.
Blues hooker Robbie Farah, one of the three main kickers in the team along with playmakers Mitch Pearce and Trent Hodkinson, conceded it would be "a bit different" to judging kicks on the smaller rectangular field the vast majority of NRL games are played on.
"It's something we'll work through on Tuesday in our captain's run and just get out bearings," Farah said.
"It is a bit different with the oval, you don’t have a rectangular footy stadium in terms of the sidelines. We need to make sure we get that right."
He said the Blues kickers would likely do a bit extra in terms of kicking practice when they get a chance to use the ground on Tuesday to make sure they're comfortable.
"It’ll be easier on game night because I’m guessing they will have signage along the sidelines which gives you a bit of a guide. They might not be there on a Tuesday. All those little things help. Sometimes they haven't got those things and you can't see the line it does make it a bit difficult."
Blues back-rower Beau Scott won't be called upon to do any kicking on Wednesday but he was also quick to identify Tuesday's captain's run as a key for the kickers.
"I think the kickers need a bit of a kick on the field because obviously it's a different surface to the normal field. I guess we'll get a little bit familiar with it on the Tuesday," Scott said.
"It is a new environment that a lot of people haven't played on before. We'll need to get used to it quickly."
The only ground that sees semi-regular NRL with comparable oval dimensions to the MCG is the Sydney Cricket Ground, which still hosts at least one game per year.
"I've played at the SCG before and that's a different feel, I presume it's going to be sort of a similar one to the MCG," Scott added.
"I guess there's a little bit more or more of a raised field in the middle. They're going to have to take all of that into account."
Video courtesy of nswrl.com.au
