He will wear the Blues' No.1 jersey in Wednesday night's decider and a handful of former Maroons legends have identified Josh Dugan as the man Queensland must stop in order to halt New South Wales' charge to a second straight Origin series victory.
Dugan has been superb in both opening fixtures of the series, almost carrying the Blues to victory in Game One on the back of a performance that included 178 running metres, four tackle busts, a line break and a try assist.
He backed that up with some more powerful running from fullback that yielded 136 running metres, a line break and an offload in Game Two, he and Will Chambers the only two players in the series to have multiple line breaks.
Set to play three games in a series for the first time when he takes to the Suncorp Stadium turf, Dugan is the Blues' danger man that is making some former Maroons nervous.
"At the back I just think he brings something special, he's got that x-factor about him," said Queensland legend Petero Civoniceva.
"The way he brings the ball back and just the unpredictability in what he can offer and make something out of nothing.
"He's someone that if New South Wales are going to be tough to beat on the night I've got no doubt he'll be featuring."
"It's hard to say who is going to standout but for me, being a winger, you've got to look at the Morris boys and those kind of lads but Josh Dugan has had two great games, even in the loss in the first game," said Jharal Yow Yeh, who scored two tries in three games for Queensland in 2011.
"He'll be a Blue we'll have to watch, he's probably my top man. Their halves, if they're to stick to their plans, and they do what they do well and stick to the process I'm sure they'll do well but Josh Dugan is my man to watch out for."
Blues centre Michael Jennings scored the opening try and made an extraordinary seven tackle busts in Game Two in a man-of-the-match performance that caught the attention of 12-time Origin representative Willie Carne.
"It's hard to pick out one individual person but if I had to I'd have to go with Michael Jennings," Carne told NRL.com.
"I think they're both just two really great footy sides that want to win and this is the first time in State of Origin that I can remember where there is no clear-cut winner.
"Laurie Daley has instilled into those guys what we've had and I think now it's such an even playing field when it comes to passion. Queensland always had the edge on New South Wales but I think it's now equal."
'The Axe', Trevor Gillmeister, couldn't resist giving the Blues' big blokes some well deserved credit for their efforts in Game Two but is also wary of the wares possessed by both Dugan and Jennings.
"I thought Jennings played really well in the second game but there's a few [to watch]. It'd be like our side, trying to pick one bloke," Gillmeister said.
"You've got Dugan bringing the ball back as well but the forwards, being an old forward myself, trying to stop the big blokes going forward and that's [Aaron] Woods, [David] Klemmer, [James] Tamou."
North of the border David Klemmer has put a few Maroon noses out of his joint with his no-holds-barred approach in Game Two but Civoniceva – the most capped Origin front-rower of all time – praised his aggressive nature in just his second game for NSW.
"That's what Origin's all about, it's about that aggression," said Civoniceva, who played 33 Origins for Queensland. "It's about pure aggression and leaving it all out on the field and that's what he did.
"For the Queensland side it's just added a bit more motivation to this game. It's going to be a very physical encounter."
