Key events
Summary
Jonathan Howcroft
Ok, thank you all for sticking with me tonight. Congratulations NSW, commiserations Queensland. We’ll be back to do this all again in three weeks with game 2 in Perth.
Until then, here’s Jack Snape’s match report from the Suncorp Stadium press box. Stay tuned for plenty more reaction over the coming days.
New South Wales deserve all the praise in the immediate aftermath of their victory. Laurie Daley did well with his selections, even if the Cleary-Moses axis was a little clunky at times. Leaders stepped up. Discipline was good when the game was on the line.
But once the confetti has been swept away all the fallout will have to be about Queensland. They weren’t great last year, they have a shallower squad this time around – many of which are struggling for form, so it’s hard to see how Billy Slater can turn things around without going nuclear.
Payne Haas is a worthy man of the match. He is bloody good. Tonight he delivered 30 tackles, 150+ run metres, and all with an aura of massive invincibility like a bearded Jack Reacher.
It’s the first time since 1997-98 the Blues have gone back-to-back at Suncorp Stadium, and if I was a betting man I’d put a couple of bucks on them completing a series sweep in Perth and Sydney.
Their strength is built around a formidable pack that was dominant tonight, especially Yeo, A Crichton, and Haas in the first half. Their hard running just sucked the life out of Queensland and established field position time and again. On top of that the Blue defensive line was superb, refusing to buckle in the face of the trickery of Ponga and Tabuai-Fidow, and the class of Queensland’s best, Coates.
In fairness, that wasn’t the best advertisement for Origin rugby league. Queensland were worryingly poor, the second half was a disjointed mess, and NSW win at a canter despite offering only sporadically with ball in hand.
Full-time: Queensland 6-18 NSW
The Blues take a stranglehold on the 2025 State of Origin series with a dominant victory in Brisbane.
79 mins: Four thoroughly uninspiring tackles precede a quarterback throw of a pass from Dearden out wide to the left wing. Holmes runs in the “try”, but the touch judge has their flag up having spotted a very obvious forward pass.
78 mins: This sloppy second half is extended an extra minute for a superfluous captain’s challenge against a NSW knock-on. It’s unsuccessful so Queensland get one final chance, 10m out.
77 mins: The kicking chaos continues as Cleary shanks an attempted field goal from point blank range.
76 mins: This was a match Queensland had to win. Not only are they not going to, it is very hard to see how they claw anything back from this series. NSW are too big up front, too clever in the halves, and too clinical out wide.
75 mins: Queensland go for the short kick-off, but… is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Zac Lomax, yet again plucking the pill from the sky and setting his side on the attack.
74 mins: Wow! Lomax takes kicking duties off the misfiring Cleary, and he absolutely wallops his conversion from just right of the posts miles to the left. What has happened to all these elite kickers tonight?
73 mins: Brilliant desperation from Lomax, Watson, and then Edwards, but that was poor defence from Holmes, electing not to contest the high ball.
TRY! Queensland 6-18 NSW (Edwards, 72)
NSW pound from halfway to the 10m line, then on tackle four are gifted a set restart! Two more hit ups and another six again! Queensland are clinging on by their fingernails. The Blues are not trying anything flash, just running their hosts into submission. Then on the last Cleary chips to the right corner for Lomax. The winger makes a miracle catch with Holmes electing not to contest. Finds the offload to Watson, who, with three men hanging off him somehow pops the ball out for Edwards to gather and crash over the line! Thank you, and goodnight.
70 mins: Queensland run on the last tackle. Carrigan crosses halfway, feeds DCE, and a flat pass is called forward! It wasn’t passed obviously backwards, but far far worse have been let go in the NRL this season. As it is it’s another item in the catalogue of second-half errors.
68 mins: Gah! What has happened to this game!? Tackle two after the 10m penalty and the Maroons grass a simple play with neither Fotuaika nor Carrigan expecting Dearden’s feed from dummy half.
NSW restore order, work through the set and kick long to Holmes.
67 mins: More scrappiness as Nanai forces a knock-on in an aerial contest on the NSW 10m line, then Dearden throws to nobody with the advantage. Scrum Queensland 10m out. After coming out the back of the scrum to the left the ball is hurled to the right to Ponga in space. He goes to the line and is clotheslined by Moses.
66 mins: Dearden has done well since coming on, adding some impetus and strength, but Queensland cannot pierce this NSW defensive line. on tackle five Tino tries a desperate offload but it’s straight to the grateful Young. NSW waste no time going for the jugular with Cleary taking the ball to the line, surfing across the face of the Maroon wave, accepting contact, offloading to the support runner, but Connor Watson, just on, drops a soda and the move breaks down.
This is all getting a bit scrappy.
64 mins: From 30m out the Blues run a couple of straight lines, then Young turns into a pinball, bouncing off tacklers, spinning, reaching the 10m line, but instead of accepting his fate he tries to offload but it’s a hand grenade A Crichton can’t hold onto and Queensland regain possession.
62 mins: Fatigue is starting to set in now, and S Crichton is in trouble with a left elbow injury. Can Queensland capitalise? No. Holmes is pinged for a loose carry under pressure from Young. Queensland challenge, but to no avail.
60 mins: Another poor fourth tackle kick, this time from Cleary, who allows Holmes to run out to the 30m line. Dearden takes Queensland to halfway with a snipe and an offload, but twice in the set the Maroons breakdown giving the ball to Ponga in tight only to watch him get smothered before he can dance away from danger.
58 mins: Queensland claim the short drop-out and get to work under the posts. Loiero, Collins, Nanai, all hit the line hard, then Moses gets a hand in at the play the ball and the Maroons get six more tackles! In sniffing distance of the line Loiero drives, then Tino, but on tackle four Munster grubbers poorly, Lomax sweeps without fuss, then Cotter and Ponga try too hard to push the Eel over the line and concede a penalty. Massive opportunity missed for the home side.
57 mins: Dearden tries to get his wide strike weapons on the ball as Queensland pass halfway. Then Munster takes over, driving to the line and cutting left, Ponga darts, then Tabuai-Fidow, but NSW hold their ground. On the last Munster kicks to the posts, Nanai challenges in the air, and the ball goes behind for a drop-out.
56 mins: Back to the midfield scrap, with Young on for NSW and Dearden for Queensland, replacing Grant. But any hint of rhythm to the game is disrupted when Mitchell concedes a needless penalty on Ponga returning a deep kick from fullback.
54 mins: NSW run straight lines for three tackles, then five more after a set restart for offside. Finally they head to the right and the ball just about reaches Lomax on the touchline, but his chip and chase deflects off Munster and Queensland survive. Just a quick word for the debutant Toia, who has defended superbly.
52 mins: NSW enjoy another leisurely rumble downfield but Cleary’s kick on the last is poor. Nine’s commentators wonder if there’s something wrong with the ball, so poor has the kicking been tonight. They cut short their debate when Ponga is pinged for a loose carry on his 20m line coming out of defence.
50 mins: The Blues forwards love the grind, and they milk the clock, eating up the metres, even absorbing a huge Ponga hit on Martin, before kicking to the left corner. It’s a marking contest for the ages with Coates competing with Lomax, and the Storm star comes down with the Steeden.
To’o makes his way back into the fray.
48 mins: Nanai does Mitchell again! Queensland go nuts, but their excitement is short-lived as Mitchell asks for a captain’s challenge and the TMO quickly identifies an obvious strip. A shot of Maroon testosterone soon turns to a NSW kick to halfway and a resumption of the midfield grind.
47 mins: It wasn’t a pretty try, and came off the back of a couple of poor pieces of play from both sides, but Queensland won’t care. They are back in this match after looking dead and buried 10 minutes ago.
46 mins: Holmes misses the touchline conversion.
TRY! Queensland 6-14 NSW (Coates, 45)
Brilliant defence from NSW off the scrum, driving Holmes into touch on the left. That is a huge statement from the 12 men. Such a flex.
But hang on! Coming out of defence Mitchell is poleaxed 10m out by Nanai who hits him like a human missile. What a shot! The ball comes free, shovelled to Toia who improvises an offload to Coates who has just enough room to find an angle, sprint, dive, reach, and score an unexpected try! Game on in Brisbane!
43 mins: Penalty Queensland thanks to Martin coming in over the top on his frenemy Munster. The Maroons kick to the 40. Now the home crowd gets behind their side as Toia carries strongly down the right, then Tabuai-Fidow darts down the left – and is unlucky not to earn a penalty for a high shot from S Crichton. The kick on the last is easily dealt with, but running out of defence Lomax has a loose carry and Queensland get an attacking scrum.
42 mins: Superb NSW defence on the opening set forces Munster to kick from 35m out from his own line. Lomax runs the ball back almost to halfway. The Blues roll forward just like the first half, but Moses comes up with a clanger, kicking tamely on the last straight to Coates in-goal.
41 mins: Massive ten minutes coming up for Queensland. Can they hit the scoreboard with To’o in the bin?
Billy Slater is downbeat talking to Sam Thaiday. “We’re hurting ourselves a lot at the moment. Discipline. Just giving easy field position to the opposition, and that’s what’s hurting us on the scoreboard. But we can change that. We’ve got another 40 minutes. We didn’t see very much of our game in that first 40. So we’d like to see a little bit more.”
The Blues have 400 more running metres than the Maroons, and almost double the post-contact metres as their opponents. Everything Queensland fans feared about the battle up front has come to pass.
“Evening Jonathan,” lovely to have you on board Phil Withall. “I admit to being slightly shocked by the fact Cherry-Evans is the oldest Origin player. In my mind Alfie Langer was about 50 when he was flown back from the UK to play back in the early 2000’s. Mind you, Alfie was about 50 when he played in school.”
How Billy Slater must wish he had Alfie on his bench to call on for the second half.
“Well that was a masterclass by the Blues in the first half,” emails HarryofOz. “Controlled the game from the first play albeit with hard running rather than expansive play. Then in the last 15 minutes – bang – three classy tries.”
Spot on. The hard work early through the middle really set up that late burst. Yeo has been immense, as have A Crichton and Haas. NSW look faster, stronger, hungrier, and cockier, but still disciplined enough to do the simple things.
How’s everyone doing out there? NSW are good, hey? Queensland are lucky to be only 12 points down, and their indiscipline is a massive problem. I honestly have no idea how they get back into this though because the Blues pack is just so powerful. Kicking to the Coates v To’o contest is literally the only obvious advantage they have anywhere on the park.
Half-time: Queensland 2-14 NSW
The Blues dominated the first half of Origin 2025 and take a deserved 12-point lead into the break. If Nathan Cleary had his kicking boots on it would be a bigger margin, and now with Brian To’o in the bin for the first ten minutes of the second half the game could still be on the line.
GOAL! Queensland 2-14 NSW (Holmes, 40)
Holmes kicks Queensland onto the board with a well struck penalty.
SIN-BIN NSW (To’o, 40)
A succession of set restarts eat up the clock as Queensland desperately try to find an openening. With ten seconds until the end of the half, on tackle four, DCE kicks to the right corner for Coates v To’o. The kick is perfect, the leap is beautifully timed, the ball is in Coates’ hands… but he doesn’t come down in possession for a try! Klein sends the matter upstairs and the TMO determines Coates doesn’t score because he’s tackled mid-air by To’o. It’s a professional foul and a sin-bin. To’o will have an extra 10 minutes on the pine after half-time.
39 mins: NSW have been so assured on their restart sets, giving nothing away cheaply to Queensland. With ball in hand the Maroons try to spread to the left but S Crichton takes Cotter man and ball with a thumping hit, then Cleary follows up with some face work. A routine kick on the last is spilled on the Queensland right and the Maroons have one last attack!
38 mins: NSW are cruising at 14-0, but the scoreline still somehow flatters Queensland. What can Billy Slater do?
37 mins: Cleary is now 0/3 with his touchline conversions, and this one doesn’t even threaten the uprights.
TRY! Queensland 0-14 NSW (Lomax, 36)
Lomax has his second! The drive up the guts draws in bodies which allows a quick ruck and time for Cleary to pick his target. He draws in Munster, double pumps, feeds Edwards, who catches and passes to Lomax who jogs in his second of the night in the right corner. This is a procession!
35 mins: The Blues are rampant. From right to left they threaten to break the line repeatedly until A Crichton is tackled by DCE. The Queensland skipper then fails to clear the ruck and Ashley Klein blows his whistle yet again. An easy two points are on offer, but why would NSW relinquish their stranglehold?
Behind play Grant receives treatment for an accidental clash of heads.
34 mins: Two tackles in Cleary tries to run through the line, offloads to his left, but straight to Carrigan – who drops the ball! Yeo adds more metres to his superb stats sheet, then NSW cut right and S Crichton is almost through. Another whistle against Queensland! NSW get a full set 10m out.
33 mins: Flagging turns into yet another error, Grant the culprit again, interfering with Lomax at the play-the-ball. The Blues have a full set 35m out.
32 mins: NSW take no risks from the restart then Mitchell cuts down Ponga running the ball out from fullback to set up another phase of assertive defence. DCE kicks to To’o, as he has all night so far, but Queensland are flagging.
30 mins: Cleary misses his second touchline conversion, this time from the left.
TRY! Queensland 0-10 NSW (To’o, 29)
“When you’ve got the world’s best players playing together, special things will happen,” purrs Andrew Johns, admiring an absolutely majestic NSW try.
Following Grant’s error, Queensland concede two set restarts as Haas marches the Blues downfield as though there’s a red carpet along the middle of Suncorp Stadium. 10m out Cleary orchestrates a move to the left, which goes from promising to scintillating in the blink of an eye when Mitchell catches and passes in a blur to create space for To’o to finish in the left corner. Absolutely sensational.
NSW are very very good.
28 mins: King and Loiero are both on for their Origin debuts as NSW calmly work through a restart set. Can Queensland fire back? No. Grant spills in contact on halfway.
26 mins: Cleary clips the post from the right touchline but his side deservedly lead 6-0 in enemy territory.
TRY! Queensland 0-6 NSW (Lomax, 25)
Tino offloads on tackle three to allow Munster to dash into attacking territory. DCE can lob a pitching wedge from 20m. Nanai competes on the 10m line, but the ball comes down NSW’s way.
The Blues grind for four tackles then Moses slips A Crichton through a gap on the left and suddenly halfway is in the rearview mirror. Moses follows up and continues the counter until he’s hauled down by his Reg Grundys. On the last NSW keep the ball alive, offloading through the middle until there’s space to spin a torpedo out to S Crichton. His pace draws Tabuai-Fidow out of the line, allowing the long final assist to Lomax who seals the deal diving into the corner. Brilliant broken field rugby league from NSW after a hardworking grind.
22 mins: Queensland take three tackles up the middle then Moses brings down Nanai on the burst with a magnificent tackle. Ponga has a dart – then Grant tries to burrow over from dummy half, but he’s held up on the line. The Maroons can smell blood and up their defensive intensity but NSW gain valuable metres on tackle five spreading the ball to the right and the dangerous Lomax.
20 mins: Queensland will be happy this has become a midfield arm-wrestle of a contest. They’ve stabilised field position after their early indiscipline and are starting to expand, Slater clearly preferring his side’s chances on the outside rather than through the middle of the Blues pack. And they get some good fortune when To’o spills a high ball 20m out on the left wing.
18 mins: A linebreak from Coates on the right! The Storm winger shows strong hips to wrestle free of the one-on-one tackle, but NSW have enough bodies to snuff out the danger. Again, the kick on the last from Queensland is poor and NSW run the ball towards halfway.
Barnett, Yeo, and Haas have all started superbly. And the former is required in defence to bring down DCE who makes a neat break down the right edge, clearly Queensland’s best edge so far. Munster with the latest unthreatening kick on the last.