Queensland 28
New South Wales 18
MELBOURNE - It was far from perfect but Mal Meninga's Queensland Maroons are now just one win away from rugby league immortality.
The Maroons survived a thrilling fightback by NSW to claim a 28-18 victory in the opening State of Origin clash at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night to be on the brink of a record fourth successive series title.
Led by two tries to centre Greg Inglis and a flawless game from man of the match Johnathan Thurston, the Maroons secured a five-tries-to-three victory in front of 50,967 fans to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
The Maroons led 24-6 after 43 minutes and appeared to have the match in their control, but two fortuitous tries to the Blues ensured a tense finish to an enthralling football game.
Queensland skipper Darren Lockyer missed a field goal attempt in the 75th minute but it didn't matter as the Blues couldn't conjure the try they needed to level the game before winger Darius Boyd rammed home the win with a try on the siren.
Queensland will now head to Sydney's ANZ Stadium on June 24 for the chance to secure the series and become the first team in 30 years of State of Origin to win four straight titles.
"We just couldn't throw the killer punch," said Lockyer.
"In the second half there a couple of deflections didn't go our way and put them back in the game and in the end we hung on.
"At 24-6 we just needed the next points and we were home."
Meninga praised the exceptional talent in his side and admitted his men were now in the box seat to become the greatest Origin team in history.
"It was not a perfect performance by us but we just won the footy game," said Meninga.
"That's step one, two to go."
NSW started exceptionally well but things turned sour after Jarryd Hayne was denied a sensational try in the eighth minute when the video referees deemed his left foot brushed the touchline as he danced 40m down the field to score.
NSW coach Craig Bellamy slammed the decision as a major turning point but conceded his young side failed to respond to the mental setback as the next eight minutes brought three Maroon tries.
Billy Slater opened the scoring in the 10th minute from a Cameron Smith grubber, followed by Inglis (15th) and Thurston (18th minute) to give Queensland an 18-2 lead.
But NSW, fielding seven rookies, clawed their way back into the contest with a try to debutant Ben Creagh to trail 18-6 at halftime.
A "soft" 75m try to Inglis three minutes after the break virtually put the game to bed until the injection of livewire Craig Wing.
The Blues utility sparked some life back into NSW only seconds after coming on in the 56th minute, scoring after Luke Lewis collected a deflection from Peter Wallace's kick.
Luck again favoured the Blues in the 68th minute when Robbie Farah collected a charge down from his own kick to put Hayne across and reduce the deficit to six points with 10 minutes to play.
The Blues had all the running and continually threatened but a couple crucial errors to skipper Kurt Gidley at fullback cruelled any chance for NSW.
"It was a pretty soft try after halftime and it could have got ugly," said Bellamy.
"To their credit they just kept trying and we nearly got back into the game.
"Hopefully we have started an era now that this side is not going to give up."
Bellamy refused to blame Gidley for his mistakes, but the skipper was devastated.
"Bit embarrassed. Unfortunately there was a couple of errors from myself which is a little disappointing," said Gidley.
The only negative for Queensland was the loss of centre Justin Hodges to a medial ligament injury in his right knee that could rule him out for the rest of the Origin series.
* QUEENSLAND PLAYER RATINGS
Queensland player ratings from last night's first State of Origin at Etihad Stadium (ratings out of 10):
BILLY SLATER (Fullback): Superb performance and got Queensland rolling after diving full length to score a freakish try off Melbourne teammate Cameron Smith's grubber. 7.5
DARIUS BOYD (Winger): Solid on the left wing without getting too many opportunities. 6.5.
GREG INGLIS (Centre): Outstanding performance scoring two tries, one a 75 metre gem when he got outside rookie James McManus and exploded away to the tryline. 8.
JUSTIN HODGES (Centre): Suffered medial ligament damage in the first half and finished the game on crutches. 6.5.
ISRAEL FOLAU (Centre): Commanded heavy defensive attention and while he couldn't manage one of his trademark aerial tries for local AFL fans, he constantly worried NSW. 7.
DARREN LOCKYER (Five-eighth): Lockyer was Lockyer, organising his troops and keeping a cool head as NSW stormed back in the final 10 minutes. 7.
JOHNATHAN THURSTON (Halfback): Man of the match was very dangerous in the first half and his goal kicking thrilled the 50,000-strong crowd. 8.
PETERO CIVONICEVA (Prop): Showed he is still the best in the business at doing the hardest job in the game, grinding out more than 130 metres to go with 22 tackles. 7.5.
CAMERON SMITH (Hooker): Made 45 tackles and kicked cleverly, including a pin point grubber for Slater's opening try. 7.5
STEVE PRICE (Prop): 22 tackles, 139 metres and 15 hit ups says it all. Tireless as always and inspirational. 8.
SAM THAIDAY (2nd-row): Did his job well with 19 tackles and some strong defence. 7
ASHLEY HARRISON (2nd-row): Made 100 metres carrying the football and played very strongly. 7.5.
DALLAS JOHNSON (Lock): As expected tackled himself to a standstill with 50 tackles. 8.
Interchange:
KARMICHAEL HUNT: Missed a number of tackles when he came on after Hodges was injured. 6.
BEN HANNANT: Did his job with 28 tackles. Solid. 7.
NATE MYLES: Provided a great off load for Inglis' key second half try. 7.
MICHAEL CROCKER: Solid when he came into the game without being spectacular. 6.5
Queensland 28 Greg Inglis (2), Billy Slater, Darius Boyd, Johnathan Thurston tries; Johnathan Thurston (4) goals
New South Wales 18 Jared Hayne, Ben Creagh, Craig Wing tries; Kurt Gidley (3) goals
* NSW PLAYER RATINGS
NSW player ratings from last night's opening State of Origin match at Etihad Stadium (ratings out of ten):
KURT GIDLEY (fullback, capt): Ran the ball back strongly for most of the night, but came up with a howler in the in-goal just when the Blues had seized momentum late. 7.
JARRYD HAYNE (wing): NSW's most dangerous player all night with a try and try assist, but will be cursing the fact he was judged to have grazed the sideline in the early stages to be robbed of the opening try. 8
MICHAEL JENNINGS (centre): Looked like he was about to cut loose all night, but unfortunately for NSW, he never did. 6
JAMIE LYON (centre): Quiet in attack and targeted in defence with four missed tackles in the first half alone. 6
JAMES MCMANUS (wing): A daunting night down the right side of defence with Greg Inglis and Darius Boyd giving him nightmares. 6
TERRY CAMPESE (five-eighth): Struggled with the speed of Origin football and failed to show any of that Campo flair which could see him struggle to hold out Jarrod Mullen for game two. 6
PETER WALLACE (halfback): His kick for Wing's second half try was an all-too-brief show of how dangerous he can be. 6
BRENT KITE (prop): Started slowly but came good late as the Blues started to get rolling on the back of his go-forward. 7
ROBBIE FARAH (hooker): Looked sharp in patches and his kick and regather to set up Hayne for his try gave the Blues a massive sniff. 7
LUKE BAILEY (prop): Tried hard but failed to bend the line on a regular basis. 6
LUKE O'DONNELL (second row): Brought the grunt for the Blues with a powerhouse display but his lost ball over the line in the first half proved costly. 7
BEN CREAGH (second row): Looked every bit the Origin player and was rewarded with a try, should have had a try assist as well only for O'Donnell's fumble. 8
ANTHONY LAFFRANCHI (lock): Thrown into the starting line-up to take care of the early hostilities but his workrate wasn't up to his normal high standards. 6
Interchange:
LUKE LEWIS: Played a key role in the Blues' second half fightback but may struggle to keep out the likes of Glenn Stewart for game two. 6
CRAIG WING: Gave the Blues instant spark when he came on to drag his side back into the contest. 7
JUSTIN POORE: Gave a good account of himself off the bench to ensure himself another go in game two. 7
MICHAEL WEYMAN: As with fellow Dragon and Blues debutant Poore, showed he was worth persevering with at this level. 7
- AAP
