Prior knowledge of the Queensland rugby cauldron at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane would make preparations for the Super Rugby semi-final with the Reds a little easier for the Blues.
Coach Pat Lam said the visit to the fortress-like stadium was a first for him and many of the players a month ago and there had already been plans made to treat the visit differently to that on the first occasion.
The Blues start in the earlier game, when they were 24 points down before starting to claw their way back, would ensure the start would be vital on Saturday.
Subtleties of the game would be emphasised in Brisbane, although Lam said the Blues had not started well in Friday's decider against the Waratahs.
"As far as being up for it, motivated, that's a non-issue. It's just about making sure we have got clarity about what our job is and really deliver from minute one," he said.
In the last game the Blues had a long period of playing the better rugby through the middle stages and it only blew out late in the game.
"Certainly the Reds didn't play all the rugby that day. We just want to make sure we do most of it this time," he said.
Lam rubbished the notion that the Blues hadn't played an 80-minute game during the season and said no team had achieved that.
"It's a contest and when there's a contest sometimes it is going to flow and ebb," he said.
"It's a case of making sure when the other team has the ball you defend better than we have and mentally we're there and then when it is time for us to attack we do it with purpose."
An important step would be applying themselves in the knowledge the conditions would be drier than recent weeks in New Zealand.
"We go to drier weather, we have still go to make sure our detail is right. We can't take it for granted that passes are going to stick and we have still got to be mentally right there and make sure our game is accurate and detailed enough to ensure we perform well in dry weather," he said.
Blues doctor Stephen Kara also outlined the true position on prop Tony Woodcock after misleading, and erroneous, reports were published in weekend newspapers about Woodcock's condition.
Woodcock had been intended to start a running plan at the Blues training on Monday but a stomach illness kept him away.
However, Kara said Woodcock was on a plan which if it went well would have him returning to playing for the second round of the ITM Cup when Auckland play Otago at Eden Park on Wednesday, July 20.
There was no concern about him missing the Rugby World Cup.
"He does not need surgery for his current problem. If he continues to have pain in that foot down the track then that [surgery] may be something that is considered at the end of the Rugby World Cup, not prior to that," Kara said.
On lock Anthony Boric he said his foot injury resulted from an over-extension suffered when he bent his foot backwards.
The injury was in the same area as Woodcock's but it was a different injury. It was a moderate grain of sprain
It was likely that Boric would be out of action for six weeks, after having his leg in a cast for two weeks.
If he is pain free after that he will go into a moon boot for his walking which so long as pain was absent would be followed by a walk-jog programme.