State of Origin: Laurie Daley’s blue chip NSW men defy the Game One cauldron curse

This was a victory for the Blue believers. NSW didn’t just win; it defied the State of Origin script in its 18-6 victory over Queensland in Brisbane.

Brian To’o celebrates scoring a try in the Blues’ 18-6 State of Origin win over the Maroons at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Wednesday night. Picture: AAP

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This was a victory for the Blue ­believers. NSW didn’t just win; it defied the State of Origin script.

After a display of dominance in the first half, the Blues vanquished Queensland 18-6 in their Suncorp Stadium stronghold.

Only three times this century has NSW won the series opener in Brisbane – the most recent of which was coach Laurie Daley’s previous season in charge in 2017.

History, as so often in Origin, wears a Maroon jumper.

Despite Queensland’s legacy, NSW asserted control from the outset. The Blues team sheet boasted the game’s best halfback (Nathan Cleary), prop (Payne Haas), lock (Isaah Yeo), centre (Latrell Mitchell) and fullback (Dylan Edwards) – and it showed.

But it wasn’t just individual brilliance; NSW’s conservative ­strategy controlled the early ­exchanges, winning collisions, possession, field position and penalties. The Maroons were softened up before the Blues finally struck.

The decisive moment came in the 25th minute when halves Cleary and Mitchell Moses finally unleashed the NSW attack on Queensland’s edge defence. A mere 11 minutes later, wingers Zac Lomax (twice) and Brian To’o had crossed the line, all but sealing the match at 14-0.

It is written in Origin folklore that Queensland may be down, but never out. And so it proved.

Just before halftime, To’o was penalised for a professional foul on Xavier Coates, denying the airborne winger a try. The penalty both narrowed the gap to a dozen points and NSW to 12 men for the start of the second half.

The Blues never regained their dominance but nor did they lose control of the scoreboard. In a scrappy second half, Coates finally got his try to keep the home crowd interested but an Edwards four-pointer with seven minutes to go put the result beyond doubt.

History, however, may yet have a say for the Maroons. Origin openers in Brisbane have been an unpredictable guide to the rest of the series in recent times.

In the previous Suncorp Stadium game one, in 2019, Queensland won a nailbiter 18-14.

And in 2017, NSW took the ­series opener in Brisbane with a dominant 28-4 victory sealed with three tries in the space of nine second-half minutes. But it proved a false dawn as Queensland came back to win games two and three.

Last year’s series also proved game one doesn’t necessarily set the tone for the series. Queensland stormed to a 38-10 victory at Accor Stadium in Sydney after the Blues had Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i sent off in the eighth minute for a high tackle. But NSW turned things around with a 38-18 victory in Melbourne, followed by a grinding 14-4 triumph on the Maroons’ home turf for their first title win in three years.