Blues draw first blood with win on Queensland soil

The Westpac NSW Blues have taken a giant step forward to defending the Ampol State of Origin Shield and ended a 27-year hoodoo in the process after beating Queensland 18-6 at Suncorp Stadium to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

 The Blues became the first NSW team since 1997-98 to win back-to-back games at Suncorp Stadium to leave them in a good position to retain the Shield with Game Two at Optus Stadium in Perth on 18 June and Game Three at Accor Stadium in Sydney on 9 July.

Their win tonight followed their epic 14-4 win at Suncorp Stadium in Game Three last year to wrap up the series 2-1.

It wasn’t easy. The Blues looked to be in complete control after taking a 14-0 lead but the game changed complexion when winger Brian To’o was sin binned for a professional foul right on half-time.

Queensland landed the penalty goal to reduce the deficit to 14-2 and then scored while To’o was still in the sin bin in the second half to set up a frantic second half at 14-6.

But the Blues held their nerve, defended their line stoutly and repelled anything the Maroons could conjure up. They sealed the win when Zac Lomax leapt high for a Nathan Cleary bomb, dropped it back for Connor Watson to pick up and then show great strength to offload in traffic as he was going to ground, for Dylan Edwards to score.

The Blues could have been even further in front but Cleary was having an off night with the boot after he landed only one from four attempts. He handed the reins to Lomax who also missed the final shot at goal.

It was a positive start for Westpac NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley, who previously coached the Blues from 2013-17 and was appointed to replace Michael Maguire.

There were plenty of heroes for the Blues, with prop Payne Haas named Channel Nine’s Player of the Match after running for 154 metres, having five tackle busts, three offloads and making 30 tackles without missing one.

His performance was indicative of the forward pack with forwards Angus Crichton (154m), Isaah Yeo (147m), Mitchell Barnett (110m) and Max King (106m) all proving a handful for the Maroons to contain.

“I’m just so proud to get the win tonight, especially at Suncorp, it’s so hard to win here,” Haas said. “We haven’t gone back-to-back at Suncorp for a while now, to do it with this group is so special and I can’t wait for Game Two.”

The early exchanges were torrid with the Blues receiving an early penalty after Queensland lock Patrick Carrigan was penalised for attacking the head of Edwards.

NSW worked their way upfield with halfback Nathan Cleary launching a cross-field kick that was plucked out of the air by winger Lomax but his offload went to ground.

The intentions of the Maroons were obvious after the next set saw prop Tino Fa’asuamaleaui penalised for a high tackle on Lomax.

Another cross-field kick was knocked on by Maroons winger Valentine Holmes 10 metres out from his own line leaving the Blues in great field position.

NSW prop Mitchell Barnett charged at the line and was stripped by Maroons front rower Moeaki Fotuaika right in front of the posts. Cleary landed the penalty goal for a 2-0 lead.

An offload from Angus Crichton for Mitchell Moses sparked a promising break before Haas found himself in space. Haas offloaded to Cleary who popped a pass over the top for Edwards, who in turn found Stephen Crichton to put Lomax over the line.

Cleary’s conversion attempt bounced off the uprights to leave NSW in front 6-0.

A knock-on from Grant near the halfway line opened the door for NSW again with just over 10 minutes to go and the Blues capitalised when Cleary and Moses combined for Latrell Mitchell to show quick hands to send To’o over in the corner. Cleary missed the sideline conversion to leave the score at 10-0.

The Maroons were struggling to keep up with the Blues and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans gave away another penalty after lying in the ruck. The Blues made them pay when Cleary and Edwards combined to send Lomax over in the corner for his second try. Cleary missed another conversion to leave the score at 14-0.

The Maroons had one final chance when Cherry-Evans launched a cross-field kick for Coates but he was unable to control the ball down on the way to the ground. To’o was sin binned for a professional foul after he was ruled to have tackled Coates in the air. Holmes landed the penalty to reduce the deficit to 14-2 at half-time.

NSW gave away a penalty after back-rower Liam Martin caught Munster with a late tackle, but the Blues defence was resolute to deny Queensland again. Lomax lost the ball running it out from his own end to give the Maroons another chance but the NSW defence arrived in time to bundle Holmes over the sideline.

The Blues kept inviting the Maroons back into the contest and when back-rower Jeremiah Nanai dislodged the ball from Mitchell, they spread it wide for Coates to score in the corner. Holmes missed the conversion to leave the Blues with a 14-6 lead.

Nanai was penalised for a strip on Mitchell to take the pressure off NSW which chewed up the clock enough to allow To’o to return from the sin bin. Queensland peppered the Blues line in prime attacking position but the defence was again resolute and held them out.

NSW sealed the result a short time later when Edwards scored. Cleary handed the goalkicking duties to Lomax but he also missed the conversion to leave the scoreline at 18-6.

“That was massive,” Lomax said. “The way we started, and especially when Bizza went off there right at the end of the first half, I thought our fight and courage was unbelievable.

“Our week has been so good, just the connection that we’ve built through this team and from last year is super, super pleasing.”