One try – against a 12-man defensive line – in almost three hours of game time.
Of all the numbers being crunched after the State of Origin series opener at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, that is the statistic likely to cause Queensland coach Billy Slater the most angst.
At a cursory glance, an 18-6 win by NSW would suggest Queensland were in the contest right up until Dylan Edwards’ match-sealing try in the 72nd minute.
But as the eighth Immortal, Andrew Johns, said repeatedly during Channel Nine’s commentary, the scoreboard probably flattered the Maroons.
NSW led 14-0 until a few seconds before half-time, and it could have been 20-0 if not for some uncharacteristically wayward goalkicking from Nathan Cleary.
Then Brian To’o was controversially sin-binned for taking out Xavier Coates in mid-air as they contested a bomb, leaving NSW a man down for the first 10 minutes of the second half.
When push came to shove, the Blues stood their ground.Credit: Getty Images
Sure enough, the Maroons caught the Blues short on their left edge in the 45th minute, and Coates capitalised on the overlap by scoring in the corner.
But that solitary line break was all they could produce, continuing a trend dating back to last season.
The last time the two sides met, in the 2024 series decider at the same venue, NSW prevailed 14-4, and Queensland’s points came from two Valentine Holmes penalty goals.
In game two of that series, the Maroons scored 18 points – but only after NSW had blitzed them to rack up an unassailable 34-0 half-time lead.
Since then, a team featuring strike weapons such as Cameron Munster, Kalyn Ponga, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Jeremiah Nanai and Coates has delivered just one try in 173 minutes, which came against a 12-man opposition.
Laurie Daley’s troops deserve immense credit for what has been hailed as a “blue wall”. But by the same token, Queensland’s impotence raises serious questions for coach Slater.
He has plenty of other reasons to be concerned. Let’s have a look at some of them.
The power game
NSW had a slightly larger share of possession (53 per cent to 47 per cent) but carried the ball 1753 metres in attack, compared to Queensland’s 1425m. That’s more than three football fields, over the course of 80 minutes.
The Blues gained 605 post-contact metres, Queensland 481.
Origin success is famously built on basic effort and fundamentals, rather than elaborate plays or complex game plans.
The numbers suggest the Blues simply ran harder, with more intent, and gradually steamrolled Queensland into submission.
Weapons out wide
Leading the way for NSW were their powerful wingers To’o and Zac Lomax, who not only shared the Blues’ first-half tries but also put them on the front foot coming out of their own end.
To’o carted the ball a game-high 225m, which obviously would have been more had he not been sin-binned. That included 79 post-contact metres. Lomax wasn’t far behind, with 209m (71m post-contact).
Winger Brian To’o touches down to score for NSW.Credit: Getty Images
The Blues made 172m with kick-returns, as opposed to Queensland’s 130m.
It might not sound like much, but in a game of inches, To’o and Lomax gave the Blues momentum at the start of their sets. And then they were perfectly positioned to finish off backline raids when NSW went on the attack.
Maroons go missing
Defence wins big games and, as stated previously, the Blues rolled up their sleeves and absorbed a mountain of pressure, especially early in the second half when To’o was in the bin.
The missed-tackle count paints a stark picture. Queensland missed 49 tackles, and another 27 were ineffective. The Blues missed 19 tackles, while 12 were ineffective. In other words, as a defensive unit, NSW were more than twice as efficient.
While the Blues targeted Queensland Daly Cherry-Evans, who missed four tackles of the 26 he attempted, the main culprit – surprisingly – was five-eighth Cameron Munster.
Munster made 29 tackles but missed 10, which is surely unacceptable at any level. Lock Pat Carrigan also missed seven tackles, although he made 53, and Harry Grant missed five of the 48 he attempted.
Maroons five-eighth Cameron Munster missed 10 tackles.Credit: Getty Images
In contrast, no NSW player missed more than four tackles. Cleary, presumably a target for heavy traffic, made 22 tackles without a miss.
Clear purpose
So much for the theory that, despite winning four consecutive premierships, Cleary has yet to dominate Origin. Playing alongside Mitchell Moses for the first time, the Penrith champion produced arguably his best running game since the 2023 grand final.
He carried the ball 136m in attack, broke 10 tackles – twice as many as any other player – and produced three offloads for good measure.
NSW halfback Nathan Cleary had a blinder in Origin I.Credit: Getty Images
Cleary is such a great ball-player that sometimes we forget he has the speed and footwork to trouble any defence.
Packing a punch
With Payne Haas leading the way, the Blues clearly dominated the battle up front. Haas carted the ball 156m in attack, more than any other forward on the field.
He had willing support from the Blues’ big men, with Angus Crichton (155m), Isaah Yeo (146m), Mitch Barnett (110m) and Max King (106m) all posting triple figures. In contrast, only Carrigan (139m) and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (121m) cracked the “ton” for the Maroons.
Some of the Queensland forwards struggled to get involved. Starting prop Mo Fotuaika made only four runs and gained 38m in 28 minutes. Reuben Cotter (51m) and Jeremiah Nanai (48m) have previously terrorised the Blues, but on Wednesday night they were scarcely sighted.
Dearden dilemma
Tom Dearden was the Dally M five-eighth of the year last season, played all three games for Queensland in the 2024 series and then represented Australia at the Pacific Championships.
He came off the bench on Wednesday night and played for 27 minutes, mainly as a makeshift hooker. Despite touching the ball 39 times, he made only two runs for a total gain of 11m.
Dearden has scored 36 tries in his 114-game NRL career. As Johns said in his post-game analysis: “I think he needs to come into the team.”
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