Kurtis Patterson fell short of a century but his patient knock at least guided NSW to first-innings honours in their Sheffield Shield clash with Western Australia at the WACA Ground.
In reply to WA's 196, the Blues went to stumps on day two at 8-258, with Patterson's 86 off 260 balls holding the innings together.
Star WA paceman Lance Morris snared 4-25 from 18 overs in an impressive display, but was Patterson was the star of the day.
The 31-year-old, who played two Tests for Australia in 2019, was so out of form last season he was dropped from NSW's Shield line-up.
But he has returned to form this summer, cracking 697 runs at an average of 69.7 this season.
The Blues started day two precariously placed at 3-17 after Sam Konstas (6), Nic Maddinson (4) and nightwatchman Ryan Hadley (1) fell late on Thursday, with two of those wickets going to Morris.
Alarm bells were ringing for NSW at 4-26 early on Friday when Cameron Gannon took a return catch to dismiss Liam Hatcher for five.
Patterson found a handy ally in Matthew Gilkes (41 off 133) to steady the ship, with the pair combining for a vital 93-run stand to resurrect NSW's innings.
That defiant partnership ended when Gilkes decided to come back for a second run and Jayden Goodwin's sharp throw from the deep found him short of his crease.
Gannon took a spectacular diving catch in the gully to remove the dangerous Josh Philippe (26 off 26 balls), with the Blues slipping to 7-166 a short time later.
Patterson's century bid was brought undone when he edged the impressive Morris to gully, but Jack Edwards (45no) and Chris Green (25no) ensured NSW built a healthy first-innings lead.
The match looms as critical to both team's finals hopes.
WA (32.63) sit third on the Shield table, just behind NSW (32.87) with only one more round to play after this one.
Morris is playing his second consecutive Shield match - a rare feat for a player who is being heavily managed by Cricket Australia due to his injury history.
"It goes a long way to have back-to-back games. I'm definitely a rhythm kind of player," Morris said.
"I felt pretty good today, and it's nice to be back out at the WACA.
"I think I'm going to be a little bit restricted. I would be looking more 30ish (overs)."
Morris said he may need to sit out WA's last Shield game of the season as part of his management plan, before returning for the final if the Warriors make it.
