There was an eerie sense of déjà vu in the way the Maroons were blown off the park in the opening 40 minutes, and it is a matter coach Billy Slater urgently needs to address.
For the first time since he took the Queensland helm, the Melbourne Storm champion will need to fight back from a 1-0 deficit, after New South Wales exploited their size and physicality advantage to emerge 18-8 victors at Suncorp Stadium.
Payne Haas was at the centre of the Blues’ first-half dominance, the Broncos prop’s post-contact carries providing the field position which led to tries for Zac Lomax and Brian To’o.
The fatigue the Queensland pack suffered attempting to contain the momentum eventually led to a flurry of cheap penalties (six to one in the opening half) and six-agains, leading to Lomax’s second.
By the break, the Blues had 29 tackle busts to their credit, with Queensland having managed just eight, and they dominated the post-contact metres (346 to 179), offloads (eight to three) and total metres (987 to 537) as a result.
Haas had emphatic support from Mitch Barnett, Angus Crichton, Max King and Isaah Yeo – who all passed 100 running metres – while their knock-the-front-door-down approach was replicated by To’o (195 metres) and Lomax (205 metres).
Payne Haas was on a tear in the early exchanges of the Origin opener.Credit: Getty Images
In contrast, lock Pat Carrigan was the only Maroons forward to pass 50 running metres by halftime, and he was only joined by Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in reaching triple figures, as Queensland attempted to run around the Blues’ backline to no avail.
The way Queensland were once again bullied off the park in scenes similar to last year’s series defeat could be enough to prompt changes from Slater, with fans and pundits left wondering why Corey Horsburgh’s name was absent from the squad list.
The Raiders firebrand has enjoyed a resurgent campaign, going from managing just five games last year due to injuries, suspensions and form to spearheading his club’s charge into premiership contention.
Horsburgh’s aggression and desire to get into the fight of the contest appears tailor-made for the Origin furnace, and he will surely come into consideration after Moeaki Fotuaika (37 running metres from four carries) and Trent Loiero (60 metres from nine carries) failed to dent their rivals’ line.
Not even Fa’asuamaleaui’s comeback after missing 2024 with a ruptured ACL could ignite Slater’s engine room, which still seems to be missing Thomas Flegler (shoulder nerve damage) and Tom Gilbert (ruptured pectoral).
Too often did Cameron Munster and Daly Cherry-Evans have to kick from deep in their own half in the first 40 minutes, and too often were the back five called upon to try and get them away from danger only to be met by a relentless Blues wall.
There were more promising signs off the ball coming out of the break, with Cherry-Evans and Jeremiah Nanai forcing mistakes deep in Blues’ territory – the latter leading to Xavier Coates crossing in the corner.
But while they displayed far greater grit and go forward in the second term to hold the Blues out for 32 minutes before Dylan Edwards’ try sealed the clash, the ferocity out of the gates needs to be a major point for Slater to address by the time game two kicks off on June 18.
One man who must surely remain for that occasion, however, is debutant Robert Toia.
The 20-year-old was thrown into the fray after just 10 NRL games and an injury-ravaged background, forced to go head-to-head with Blues superstar Latrell Mitchell.
But the Rooster centre – who fought two ruptured ACLs, stress fractures in his back and a broken jaw all before reaching first-grade – was up to the task, finishing with a try assist and 23 tackles while constantly preventing Mitchell (72 running metres, one tackle bust) from gaining momentum.
For all the issues up front for Slater to rectify in his side’s opening 40 minutes, he has unearthed a genuine winner in the young Nudgee College product.
“It’s pretty special, isn’t it? Sometimes the path to that achievement can be a straight line, for him, it certainly hasn’t been – it’s been very up and down,” former Maroons winger Les Kiss said of Toia’s comeback from his injury turmoil.
“But that builds the resilience, it builds your robustness. He’s been through a lot.”
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