NSW has drawn first blood in the 2025 State of Origin series, downing Queensland 18-6 on home soil.
More than 52,000 Maroons and Blues fans packed out Suncorp Stadium for the showdown on Wednesday night.
It’s the first time in 27 years the Blues have won back-to-back games at the Suncorp fortress after winning last year’s decider in Brisbane.
Broncos star and NSW enforcer Payne Haas was named man of the match for the first time in his career after finishing the game with 140 metres, three tackle busts, three offloads, and an impressive 29 tackles without a miss.
A disappointed Queensland coach Billy Slater admitted post-match that his side was simply outclassed by Laurie Daley’s men.
“They were much better than us. I feel pretty flat to be honest about our performance,” Slater said.
“The flatness comes from how we hurt ourselves.
“Very ill disciplined in the first half, and then that just snowballed against us.”
The series now heads West, where the Maroons will be desperate to win Game Two in Perth on June 18 in a bid to keep the series alive.
