It was a new generation of New South Wales stars who ran out in Origin 1 in Sydney on Wednesday night. But they staggered off with the same pain of their forebears, blown apart 38-10 by a ruthless Queensland side hurtling toward a third successive series victory under coach Billy Slater. In a spectacle spoilt by the send off of Joseph Sua’ali’i for a high hit on Maroons star Reece Walsh in the eighth minute, a Blues-heavy crowd of 77,214 was left to rue a costly home defeat and face down another sudden-death scenario in Melbourne on 26 June.
With injuries ravaging both sides, new-look teams ran out on a cold night under clear skies in Sydney. Most eyes were on new Nicho Hynes, recalled as NSW halfback after his horror cameo at right centre in the 26-18 defeat in Adelaide last year. But the rust evident in his 46-0 shocker for the Sharks last weekend followed him to Accor. In the fourth minute Hynes’ first kick ran long, gifting Queensland seven tackles and momentum. The Maroons rolled forward at speed, giving Daly Cherry-Evans space to jink right then left from dummy half. As three Blues converged, he looped a ball inside to Ben Hunt who took a low road to the line for 6-0.
Queensland surged downfield from the kickoff and looked certain to score until play stopped and all hell broke loose. In backplay Maroons fullback Reece Walsh lay crumpled on the turf. The little livewire had been sliding as he passed but the hit from Sua’ali’i was lethal. Shoulder hit jaw and, as medics swarmed the NRL’s marquee man, referee Ashley Klein reached for the red card and made the rugby union-bound Rooster the sixth man sent off in 44 years of Origin. Valentine Holmes salted the wound soon after with a penalty goal for 8-0.
With 12 men on 13 and 72 minutes to play, NSW went for broke. Jarome Luai danced down the left and dribbled a sublime right footer toward goal where James Tedesco darted forward and dotted down for 8-6. But it was a try against the tide and Queensland quickly drove down the middle in response. Jaydn Su’a, back for the Maroons for the first time since 2021, split two defenders and offloaded to Murray Taulagi who put Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow over for 14-6.
With the Blues backline in disarray, Queensland went for the kill. Selwyn Cobbo had been activated off the bench when Walsh saw stars and in the 23rd minute the big centre bumped off two Blues, found four Maroons in support and only Tedesco in front. Tabuai-Fidow’s second try made it 20-6 but Tedesco refused to yield, surging into the line in the 29th minute and spearing Spencer Leniu over if not for Tabuai-Fidow holding him up over the line.
The Blues went to the break battered but unbroken. And they started the better in the second half, Hynes’ deft kick to the right corner allowing Zac Lomax to out-climb Cobbo and crash over for a 20-10 ledger that signalled ‘game on’. As the torrid pace of the game took its toll, both teams traded turnovers and mistakes muddied the waves of attack that followed. Both teams were chancing their hand looking to break the game open and Queensland looked to have done it when Billy Slater’s cries from the coaching box of “kick it to X!” were answered.
But “X”, aka Xavier Coates, had lost the ball over the line and when Blues enforcer Liam Martin cut 2023 man of the series Reuben Cotter in half in the next set, Blues fans rose to their feet and roared the comeback into life. But it wasn’t to be. Hudson Young’s grubber in goal rebounded infield where Tabuai-Fidow pounced and sent his teammates away, Ben Hunt finishing the raid with his second try of the night and a definitive 32-10 obliteration which Tabuai-Fidow iced with a hat-trick try in the 79th minute.
At 35 years of age and in his 23rd appearance for Queensland, Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans was named player of the match for his two try assists and a crucial 40-20 late in the second half that killed off any hope of a late Blues rally.
“Part of my final message before we ran out [was] just trust what we’ve done this week,” said the indefatigable Manly veteran who vanquished club teammate Jake Trbojevic in his Blues captaincy debut. “Something doesn’t have to go wrong. Nothing has to be wrong sometimes. We were so determined to get this one. It’s paid off for us. I’m just so proud at the moment. It’s not the whole job done yet. We’ll enjoy this moment, it is important to enjoy it, but there’s still two more games to go.”
Michael Maguire called the decision to bin debutant Suaali’i “a massive call in a game like this” but Trbojevic refused to blame the referee’s decision for the defeat. “We can take a lot of confidence from tonight,” he said. “In the first 20 minutes of the second half we were on top. Credit to the boys: we put ourselves in a position to win it in the back half of the game.”
The series next heads to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the Maroons needing to claim their first win at the MCG since 1995 if they are to wrap up the series. The third game will be played at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday 17 July.
