McGuire was one of Queensland's best in a series-opening loss despite it being his first game in six weeks after an ankle injury.

But he never doubted his ability to slot straight in, given the lessons learned in eight previous State of Origin appearances.

"Origin is more about your head, mentally than physically, taking your body to places it hasn't been to before," he told AAP.

"It's a different sport completely (to the NRL) and I wasn't going to put myself in a situation like that if I didn't think I could do it."

McGuire looks likely to have the services of prop Dylan Napa in Sydney after the Sydney Roosters talent, named in the side on Wednesday night, got through Thursday's training uninhibited.

It means Queensland will field an unchanged forward pack despite critics pointing to their deficiencies as the reason for the 22-12 loss in Melbourne.

McGuire argued they had the right men for the job though and only small tweaks were needed.

"As soon as people start thinking stats are the be-all and end-all you lose sight of what rugby league's about," McGuire said.

"At times we were more dominant, more aggressive but they won and we've got to get better."

"But no (not more aggressive), we just need to be smarter in areas ... Origin is about ball control, completing and winning tackles and if you're low in those areas it's hard to win."

Australian Associated Press