Daley 80 minutes away from Origin redemption after Blues steamroll Maroons

Laurie Daley is suddenly just 80 minutes away from State of Origin redemption after kicking off his second coming as NSW coach in style.

Back at the Blues helm for the first time since 2017, Daley would have breathed a giant sigh of relief when Dylan Edwards crashed over in the 73rd minute to seal an 18-6 victory.

Zac Lomax dragged a Nathan Cleary kick in with his right hand and kept the ball alive for Connor Watson, who somehow squeezed the ball out for Edwards to score.

A NSW victory in Perth in three weeks will hand Daley an Origin series victory, something he achieved just once from five attempts in his first spell in charge.

Daley did well to get as close as he did against some of the greatest Origin teams ever assembled. At some stage in the coming days, he will no doubt think about how much fairer some of those fights against the star-studded Maroons – including Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston – would have been had he been able to pick the likes of Cleary, Lomax, Isaah Yeo, Payne Haas and Stephen Crichton.

The coach was not getting carried away with the one win, and recalled winning game one in Brisbane in 2017, only to lose the series.

Zac Lomax celebrates one of his two tries.Credit: Getty Images

“It was the same in 2017, you need to enjoy the win, anytime you win up here, and any time you win game one, it’s good, but I know they’ll be better – and we have to be better,” Daley said.

“It’s only camp one. We’ll see what they’re like when we bounce into game two because what I know about Origin is there’s always a response – if you get hit in the face, there’s a response the next game.”

Lomax was phenomenal in attack and defence. His ability to pounce on a Cam Munster grubber and keep the ball in the field of play approaching the hour was just as vital as his two tries – as was his effort in the lead-up to Edwards’ try, given the Maroons were camped down the Blues’ end of the field.

Yeo was dynamite in the first half with some of his carries, Payne Haas kept running and running, while Crichton, who came into the game with a quad strain, reminded the 52,483 fans inside Suncorp Stadium why he is the best centre in the game.

Queensland threatened a comeback early in the second half when facing 12 NSW players. Brian To’o went to the sin bin on the final play of the game before the break when he tackled Xavier Coates in the air as he tried to catch a Daly Cherry-Evans kick. Few could argue with the penalty, but there will be healthy debate about whether To’o deserved a ten-minute timeout.

The Maroons kicked a penalty goal, then started fast in the second period, scoring a try through Coates after Jeremiah Nanai smashed the ball free from Latrell Mitchell. But they failed to hold the ball long enough to mount any serious pressure. To be fair, the Blues were also sloppy with their handling, and could have iced the game much earlier. The scoreline flattered the Queenslanders.

“I feel pretty flat to be honest about our performance,” Maroons coach Slater said.

“Obviously, NSW were much better than us, I’m not taking anything away from them, but the flatness comes from how we hurt ourselves.

Liam Martin celebrates with Dylan Edwards after the fullback’s late try all but sealed victory for NSW.Credit: Getty Images

“We were very ill-disciplined in the first half, and that snowballed against us.

“We didn’t see the best of this Queensland team tonight. That’s what I’m most disappointed about.”

It was hardly an Origin classic, but it was an important win for Daley after taking over from Michael Maguire, who won last year’s series. The odds are now in the Blues’ favour to go back-to-back.

It is hard to imagine seeing the Maroons closing the gap in such a short amount of time. The last two Origin games in Western Australia have resulted in a combined 82-18 scoreline in favour of the Blues. Even if they do square the series at Optus Stadium, Queensland will then need to win in Sydney to regain the Origin shield.

The Blues had nearly 60 per cent of the ball and could have led by more had Cleary’s right boot been working as normal. Cleary appeared to be a club-length short all night with his kicks, and was sacked from goalkicking duties after booting just one from four. A late field-goal attempt also sailed wide.

Crichton was a genuine chance of being a late scratching because of a corked quad he picked up on Monday. Daley said when his physios asked Crichton how he was feeling on game day, he told them “mad, which obviously means good”.

NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now

Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.