A dominant first half secured victory for New South Wales in the State of Origin opener 18-6, leaving the Maroons with a huge task to claim the shield as the series shifts away from Queensland.
The Maroons have now lost two games in a row at Suncorp Stadium for the first time since 1997, having also lost last year’s decider. Indeed, the margin of victory for the favourites should have been greater were it not for struggles by Blues’ kickers Nathan Cleary and Zac Lomax, who went one from five.
NSW captain Isaah Yeo said team “handled well” uncertainty in the lead-up around injuries to influential players Payne Haas and Stephen Crichton, who were both close to their best on Wednesday. And Yeo revealed he now enjoys the experience of running out at Suncorp Stadium, describing it as a “special” place to play. “To come up here, and I thought our first half was half was exceptional,” he said.
His side scored three tries through silky backline play in the first half, two for winger Lomax down the right and one for Brian To’o on the other side of the field. The To’o four-pointer was the highlight thanks to a brilliant catch and pass from Latrell Mitchell, who found his outside man under heavy pressure from the rushing Queensland defence.
Much of the pre-match discussion had centred around the ability of the Maroons’ rookie centre Rob Toia to be able to contain Mitchell. Ultimately the 20-year-old acquitted himself well, and it was actually the Blues centre who experienced a mixed night. His handling error directly led to the Maroons’ only try early in the second half, scored by Xavier Coates.
But it proved little more than a footnote for NSW, who have now won three straight Origin contests and look almost unbeatable in 2025. Victory was sealed with seven minutes to go with a miracle try for fullback Dylan Edwards. Sustained Blues pressure on the Maroons’ line ended with a kick and one-handed take from Lomax, who then found Connor Watson. The danger seemed to be extinguished when Watson was wrapped up by three defenders. But he managed to pass the ball back to Edwards, who mashed it into the ground to put the game beyond doubt.
While the Blues controlled much of the match, the contest erupted early in the second half. The Blues were seeking to limit the damage during a period with To’o in the sin bin. Despite early errors, it looked they had done it too, when the Maroons butchered a scrum play 10m from the Blues’ line. But on the first tackle, Jeremiah Nanai dislodged the ball from Mitchell and Coates scurried across in the corner.
Despite the missed Valentine Holmes conversion, there was newfound energy in a stadium that had been flat in the first half. It was amplified when crowd favourite Tom Dearden came on to spell Harry Grant at hooker. A succession of kicks pinned the Blues back, a run of repeat sets finally ending when Lomax swooped on a Cam Munster grubber, keeping the ball in play and winning a penalty. That was as close as the Maroons would come, as errors mounted for both sides before Edwards’ match-sealing try. The home side appeared to finally cross with a minute to go, but Holmes’ try was ruled out due to a forward pass.
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Queensland were lucky to escape the first half down only 14-2 after a powerful period from the Blues. The visitors dominated yardage, out-gaining the Maroons 1,000m to 600m with tackles 233 to 162. For 39 minutes, set after set ended up down the Maroons’ end, and the match appeared destined for a New South Wales victory.
But Queensland swung momentum back thanks to Coates, their towering right winger and best player on the night. With less than a minute to go before half-time, he forced his opponent To’o into a handling error off a kick, and then in the last play of the half, baited To’o into grabbing in a subsequent aerial contest. The result was Queensland’s first points, a sin bin for To’o, and hope for the capacity crowd of more than 54,000 at Suncorp Stadium. That hoped proved short-lived, and now the pressure mounts on the Maroons to produce in Perth in game two next month in a bid to keep the series alive for the decider in Sydney in July.
Ominously for Queensland, the Blues feel they can improve. “There’s areas in our game that we can get better at, which is exciting,” Yeo said. “I’d like to think we take some confidence out of it, but it’s a long way to go.”
