The Blues have taken a 1-0 lead in the 2026 State of Origin series after a dramatic 22-20 comeback win over the Maroons.
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But there are some reasons to be concerned for coach Laurie Daley despite the victory, while he also has a big selection headache on his hands.
Plus, one decision from Billy Slater will come under scrutiny after Wednesday’s loss.
Read on for the biggest talking points from Game 1!
CLEARY’S CHANCE TO SILENCE ‘DISAPPOINTING’ NARRATIVE
Is Nathan Cleary finally dominating the Origin arena?
It’s been the one knock on the champion halfback, who already has three series victories to date to go with his four premierships in clubland.
The pundits almost unanimously have said for Cleary to be considered an all-time great, he needs to deliver in the sky blue jersey and take control when his team needs it most.
Well the 28-year-old took the first step, or leap, towards doing that with a crowning display in NSW’s comeback win on Wednesday night.
Cleary came up with a host of crucial “moments” and it was those moments that “he won” according to club teammates and Blues skipper Isaah Yeo.
“The 40-20 was massive chasing points, comes up with a try there and he was just a calm head,” he said in the post-match press conference.
“He attacked the game, and I feel like he’s done that in so many big games before, so it feels like it’s not new for me, but I love to see him own those moments and I thought he was outstanding tonight.
“When we needed him most, he stepped up and provided for us… I don’t agree with some of the stuff that gets said obviously but there’s no bigger fan than me.”
NSW coach Laurie Daley, meanwhile, slammed the Cleary narrative when it comes to Origin, and threw back to one particular Cleary performance.
In the 2023 grand final, Cleary took complete control to down the Broncos, scoring a match-winning try. While his Origin four-pointer didn’t seal the win in Game I, his assist in the dying seconds did.
PLAYER RATINGS
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Cleary HEROICS sparks Blues comeback | 00:32
“I just get disappointed with the narrative that is driven. He’s a champion,” he said.
“He’s still got a lot of footy left to play, and it was reminiscent of the grand final. He was phenomenal for us.”
Elsewhere, debutant Ethan Strange, who enjoyed an impressive debut, hailed his halves partner in a way that only a No.6 can to their No.7.
“How good is it to play alongside Nathan Cleary,” he said post-match.
“The way he controls the game is second to none. I was on the other side of it a couple of weeks ago when we played the Panthers so to be playing alongside him tonight, it’s pretty good.”
However, if Cleary wants to end the “disappointing” narrative, as Daley put it, he needs to secure a series win with another dominant display.
If his post-match comments are anything to go by, he’s focused on just that.
“What an unbelievable feeling. You can’t beat it. But as I said, there’s two games to go,” he said.
“We don’t want to fall in love with ourselves, but enjoy this one tonight and get straight back to it.”
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Loz credits Cleary for Greatest comeback | 12:59
‘INCREDIBLE’ STATEMENT SPARKS AWKWARD BLUES HEADACHE
Laurie Daley has an almighty halves headache after Ethan Strange produced one of the best halves ever from a State of Origin debutant.
Strange was lively all night, but the Raiders star was sensational in the second forty to help the Blues record the greatest Origin comeback of all time.
The 21-year-old was initially named on the six-man bench for Game I but was promoted to the starting side when Mitch Moses suffered a hamstring injury 48 hours before kick off.
Strange wasn’t overawed by the occasion. The Blues didn’t have much quality ball in the first half, so the five-eighth didn’t have much of a chance to strut his stuff, but he was still solid.
He made a huge defensive play early, rattling Cam Munster with a bonecrunching tackle which forced a knock on.
“That’s an Origin player from the young man on debut. Sometimes you need something – whether it’s a big play or a big tackle – to bring life back to your team,” Andrew Johns said on Channel Nine.
It was inside the final 25 minutes Strange really came alive though.
With the Blues boasting a one-man advantage after Kalyn Ponga was sent off, Strange went to work.
He gave the Maroons’ edges fits, putting several players through holes and scoring a try to close the margin.
He also had a try taken off him minutes earlier when an obstruction was found in the Bunker.
“He was the most dangerous ball runner in a Blues outfit tonight and I thought he was the best player on the park,” Cameron Smith said in commentary.
Critta BRILLIANCE sets up Strange try! | 00:28
“Ethan was incredible. Didn’t get much first half ball but he sparked them down this left side in the second half,” Johns added.
“He’s going to play 30 Origins. He’s made for Origin.
“Without doubt, one of the best on the field.”
In the second half alone, Strange had 87 metres, four tackle busts and three line break assists.
Reflecting on his performance post-game, you could’ve blamed Strange to be lost for words after such an experience, but his usual calm, cool demeanour remained.
“It was a blur,” Strange said.
“That was pretty special there. I was pinching myself. Luckily I had Nathan Cleary next to me.
“This jersey means alot. As a kid, when the Blues won it was everything.”
So, it now poses the big question. Will Strange keep his starting spot for Game II?
What’s in his favour is that he simply couldn’t have done any more.
In addition, Moses will be racing the clock to prove his fitness, even though the initial diagnosis is promising.
PRESS CONFERENCES
NSW: One question Daley wouldn’t answer as Blues coach gives cryptic Moses reply
QLD: Slater responds to Ponga call as QLD coach bristles at question
HUGE HIT! Strange forces Munster error | 00:28
PUZZLING SLATER CALL COMES UNDER FIRE
A puzzling call from Billy Slater late in Game I may come under the microscope in the next couple of days.
In the 57th minute with the score at 20-6, the game turned on its head when Maroons fullback Kalyn Ponga was sent off.
It left Queensland down a man for the rest of the game. The Blues would take full advantage, capping a remarkable come-from-behind win.
At the time of Ponga’s send off, coach Billy Slater had only used three of his six interchange players.
It meant that Gehamat Shibasaki could have been put on the park in the centres to cover Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, who moved to fullback.
Instead, Slater elected to shift edge forward Kurt Capewell out to centre and instead of bringing Shibasaki on, the Maroons injected middle forward Trent Loiero into the game with 15 to play.
Capewell was torn to shreds in the centres as the Maroons struggled to stop a Blues onslaught with one less man.
Capewell mostly had a strong outing until his position switch. In the second half, he missed seven tackles.
With the six man bench brought into the game this year to help teams manoeuvre through moments like this, it seems as if Slater pulled the wrong rein.
The Blues meanwhile used their extra outside back, with Casey McLean coming on for Tolu Koula, who copped the brutal hit which led to Ponga’s send off.
McLean was willing and busy on debut, running six times for 44 metres (two tackle busts).
He was dynamic.
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Origin Erupts after Ponga SEND OFF!! | 00:31
As was Matt Burton, who Daley elected to use inside the final ten minutes.
Burton, in jersey No. 21, didn’t change the game by any means, but he looked likely in his short stint.
Daley noted the pair’s impact in those crucial moments.
“Casey was outstanding in his debut and then Burto, we needed points and we thought we’d get it from his running game and maybe to cause a linebreak, or take a defender away from Nathan or something like that,” Daley explained.
“He is also a weapon with the ball in the air. So if we needed it, we could put it in the air and challenge and see, but in the end it was Nathan who kicked it, and Teddy came down with a magical play.”
Capewell, for all his strengths, was found out in the backs, having already played 57 minutes before moving out to centres.
Shibasaki would’ve provided some fresh legs in a position the Blues, who had all the ball in the final 20 minutes, were attacking hard.
Slater was asked about his interchange tactics in the post-match presser, and the Queensland coach was a little short in his answer.
“Did your interchange go as planned?” a reporter asked.
“Well we had someone sent off. We had to put a back rower into the centres and we had to rotate our middles quite heavily,” Slater responded.
“When someone is sent off, it’s far from planned.”
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“I’d like you to keep your job” | 00:28
HOW ‘LAUGHING’ WALKER SILENCED BIGGEST ORIGIN QUESTION
Queensland debutant Sam Walker wasted little time asserting his mark in Origin folklore during a dramatic Game I in Sydney, steering Queensland’s attack and evading NSW despite claims the Blues would target him in defence.
The Roosters halfback played a starring role for the Maroons in the controversial 22-20 loss, leaving no doubt that he was the right man to wear the No.7 in the wake of incumbent Tom Dearden’s ankle injury, which is likely to preclude him from at least Game II.
“It’s a hard one to reflect on now but I’m disappointed,” Walker told Nine’s coverage immediately afterwards.
“It’s special to be able to put the jersey on. The whole week has been special and I’m looking forward to the next camp.”
Walker set up the Maroons’ first try with a deft grubber kick from close range to put Roosters’ teammate Rob Toia over in the 10th minute. Four minutes later he put North Queensland’s Tom Flegler through under the posts.
“He’s a unique style of player, we all know that and we all wanted to know what he could do, we’re really pleased with our earning phase at this part of the game,” coach Billy Slater said in Nine’s Origin coverage.
“We want to make sure we’re disciplined and in the contest. We’ve done that and now it’s about trying to stay there.”
“Just like Allan Langer, Walker has terrorised the Blues with his short kicking game early,” added commentator Matt Thompson.
‘First Touch!’: Walker produces MAGIC | 00:37
Elsewhere, Walker was masterful in controlling the Queensland attack, offering composure and poise when it mattered – even when Queensland were reduced to 12 men in the wake of a Kalyn Ponga send-off.
Equally impressive was his defence on the Queensland edge, where he held his own with 15 tackles and strong communication with his outside players.
“We told Sammy to be himself, and isn’t he going well,” Queensland five-eighth Cameron Munster said at half-time.
For Blues great and Immortal Andrew Johns, Walker managed to evade the NSW offence despite a big emphasis on diffusing the 23-year-old’s attack during the week.
“All the talk leading into this Origin was how they were going to get Sam Walker,” he said.
“He ran on the field and he was laughing. He’s set up the first try and now he’s kicking goals.
Maroons legend Cameron Smith also loved what he saw from the Queensland half.
“He was outstanding,” Smith said.
“It’s not a trait you normally consider with Sam Walker, but he played with control, and led the Maroons around the park well.
“If Queensland wins, he is man of the match.”
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WHY MIRACULOUS WIN CAN’T PAPER OVER BLUES’ CRACKS
Laurie Daley entered this year’s Origin series as a man under pressure.
Even if there is talk he could finish up as coach regardless of how this series plays out, the reality is that decision could have been taken out of his hands if the Blues fell short again.
After all, Daley’s contract as coach runs out at the end of the year and given his underwhelming results at the helm in past series, you wouldn’t blame the Blues for looking elsewhere.
Wednesday’s win was obviously a step in the right direction, but it is hard to say it was a ringing endorsement for Daley either.
The result looked like it would have been very different had Kalyn Ponga not been sent off, and while Daley obviously wanted to celebrate the result he was also very aware of the fact his team has plenty to improve on for Game 2.
“We didn’t play well in the first half at all,” Daley said post-game.
“Never really gave ourselves a chance. Very happy obviously with the second half. But we just made too many errors out of yardage, put ourselves under pressure, did a lot of defending, and then all of a sudden you get fatigued.
“So, Queensland shot out to a lead. I’m just so happy with the boys, they showed fight and that’s what you want to see.”
From what Daley said in his press conference, it doesn’t sound like you can expect any major changes from the Blues for the second game of the series.
Payne Haas will come in while Daley seemingly left the door open for Ethan Strange retaining his spot in the halves after a luckless Mitch Moses went down injured.
But there is some merit to the argument that Daley should reconsider the make-up of his forward pack after the Blues were dominated through the middle of the park early in Wednesday’s game.
Teddy produces ANOTHER Origin Winner | 00:26
“That’s been all the talk in the lead-up to this game about the make-up of the different sides,” Queensland legend Cameron Smith said in commentary.
“At the moment they are struggling through middle of the field to contain the Maroons. The outside backs are getting in, the middle forwards are poking through the line.”
Daley opted for smaller, more mobile forwards and maybe he can point the wet conditions as a reason that selection didn’t work out, with the hope that a drier and faster track will bring out of the most of his pack in Game 2.
But more concerning was the fact the Blues seemed to not have many answers to the Maroons’ rushing defensive line, which was coming up and in and limiting any early ball to centres Stephen Crichton and Kotoni Staggs.
Halfback Nathan Cleary had one answer when he put a no-look grubber through for Hudson Young, but Crichton and Staggs were reduced to just 44 and 49 metres respectively in the first half.
Braith Anasta urged the Blues to move Cameron Murray to lock forward and Isaah Yeo to prop before Game 1, believing Yeo was at times getting in the way of Cleary and was too slow to get him the ball in previous Origin contests.
Laurie Daley cannot believe it! | 00:31
“Origin we’ve seen is very different. You’ve got less time and space to make decisions, to come up with plays and deliver what he (Cleary) usually does for Penrith,” Anasta said on ‘NRL 360’.
“Isaah Yeo, I think, can get in the way of Cleary in Origin and Cleary gets the ball too late.”
The result is that the ball doesn’t get to the edges quick enough and with a Queensland defence that forces it back into the middle anyway, it leads to a disjointed attack.
That was the same last year and has always been the same under Slater.
It will be interesting to see if Queensland employ the same tactic again for Game 2 and, more importantly, if Daley has any solution when it will be back to 13 on 13.