The Marons have delivered another sublime Origin miracle to mark Daly Cherry-Evans’ 20^th game in the Maroons jersey and James Tedesco’s 20^th in the New South Wales jersey. The Blues had 56% of possession in the first half, but were down 10-6 at the break, testament to the defensive courage and underdog mentality of a Queensland outfit that saved their best for last – two tries to regain the lead, both with Tom Flegler in the bin for a supposed shoulder charge, culminating with an amazing contest between Lindsay Collins and Teddy in the air.

The tries that New South Wales did deliver were entirely a product of the Penrith machine – a 31^st minute from Liam Martin to silence sceptics on his inclusion this year, a Koroisau crossover that felt like a Panthers product in spirit, and then a tap-back from Martin to set up the wide ball from Jarome Luai that assisted the third and final try from Stephen Crichton. On the other side of the Steeden, a Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow double bookended a Selwyn Cobbo, the Bronco and Dolphin making huge Origin advances, before Cam Munster sealed the deal.

The Blues had first touch of the football, and Tom Trbojevic the first carry, before Tevita Pangai Junior took his first charge in Origin football, and Payne Haas added an impact run on the third. James Tedesco was over the forty by play five, and Nathan Cleary booted it all the way to the opposition ten for Reece Walsh’s first kick. Yeo led a three-man pack to cut down Tom Gilber metres midway through the count, meaning DCE was only just over his forty by the time he put boot to ball. Hudson Young followed with tough contact during the next set.

Walsh took Cleary’s second kick as well, a group of players from both sides cascades onto him, and the fracas spilled out again a metre towards the try line, all due to some inadvertent contact in the air from Tyson Frizell, and then from Ado-Carr on the ground. Queensland got a penalty out of it, and Walsh showed he was no worse for wear with a twenty-five-metre charge up the right edge, in their first really dynamic attack of the night. David Fifita mirrored that effort with fifteen post-contacts on the left edge, before Cameron Munster took the kick.

It was a weird one, seeming to blow back behind him, no depth on it at all, and produced yet another volatile moment, as Gilbert came maroon-faced for the second time after leading the second wave of aggression after the Frizell-Walsh contest. Now it was New South Wales’ turn to get a bump into the opposition half, as Pangai contributed his first post-contacts, and Teddy tried to make space for Turbo on the right edge. They were forced to shift it to the other side of the park, where Jarome Luai attempted to make way for Stephen Crichton too.

The Maroons scrambled well on both edges, and while the visitors got the ball back after the kick, Teddy flicked it forward, and Pangai found himself offside a beat later. Ben Hunt almost busted down the left on tackle one, David Fifita came down a millimetre away from the line on the second, and the Queenslanders felt like they could score on the very next play, so it was a critical circuit-breaker when Crichton cut down DCE out on the right. Yet the Maroon machine clicked back into gear again on the final play, with an instantly iconic Origin putdown.

It was the footy equivalent of a geometric proof, as Hunt sent out a stellar twenty-metre pass from the crossbars, and Munster responded by shaping left and grubbering right. The sublime simplicity of those two plays was enough to open up a gap between Cleary and Pangai, and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow made the most of it, chasing down the ball and grounding his second try in as many Origin appearances with the Foxx on his back. Val Holmes added the extras, Young stole the Steeden from Pat Carrigan on the restart, and Queensland headed downfield.

The augmented restart was all they needed to score again, with a try that was just as brilliant as their first, but in a completely different way. If the Hunt-Munster-Hammer triangle was prodigious rugby league architecture, then this was systems doing their thing, as Hunt, DCE and Walsh created good rhythm out the back – Daly with a lovely subliminal double pump – so that Holmes could drive it deep into the corner and then pop it out at the death for Selwyn Cobbo to crash through Crichton. Holmes missed the kick though, keeping it ten unanswered.

Munster bombed on tackle three of the restart, so the Blues got some unexpected field position, bolstered by a twenty-metre charge from Brian To’o early in the count. Cleary’s kick was pinpoint perfect, forcing Walsh to leap to collect it just in the field of play, and bring it to ground just over the try line. With a restart on play one of the dropout, this was New South Wales’ best chance in some time, but their first sweep to the left, out of a Cleary offload, grew more frantic until Cobbo shaped to intercept a Crichton ball, and tempted the forward pass.

To’o might not have mirrored his midfield charge on the next return, and yet he did just as well to find a very late offload for Turbo. Still, Walsh matched it with the toughest take of the night, amidst a sea of navy blue jerseys, while confusion briefly reigned as Gilbert left the park, although failed to clear the sideline before Lindsay Collins trotted on. In any case, the Blues got the ball back, and had a full set on the opposition line, as Cleary glanced left, seemed to think of the last sweep, and tried to go himself, before sending it right a few tackles later.

Teddy was the recipient, and actually crossed the chalk, but was held up by the most rousing Queensland defence so far – low shot from Walsh to slow his pace, then ball-and-all from Murray Taulagi to hover him above the turf, before Munster slammed in to finish the job. Yet with Liam Martin making a few tough post-contacts later in the following set, and winning himself a penalty in the process, the Blues were back in the red zone, before receiving a full set in the ten off after some daring Tedesco footwork laid the platform for a Val Holmes strip.

The next couple of plays were a bit wonky, but for a moment it looked like Teddy had got some closure on the right edge – now with an assist for Tyson Frizell, the oldest Blue on the park, who also felt the full brunt of Taulagi’s extraordinary defence. The North Queensland backliner made an even clutchier effort this time, wrapping himself more directly around the Steeden, and bearing the brunt of Frizell’s enormous girth as they tumbled over each other on the line. So heroically did he comport himself that you could see why it was called no try.

Still, the two had landed with such forced that it felt as if a part of the Steeden had touched the ground, and while all the replay angles were darkened by Taulagi’s shadow at the critical moments, the law of averages seemed to suggest that this had to be a try. Yet with no “definitive” footage to overturn the decision, the four points went begging, ushering in a slump period for New South Wales, starting with Taulagi himself stripping the footy a moment later, and continuing into a Young drop shortly after Api Koroisau had delivered a strong run.

By this stage, the visitors had 57% possession and no points to show for it, while Gilbert was confirmed off for the rest of the night with a shoulder fracture. A few completed sets ensued, with Frizell glimpsed some space up the right only to be downed by a super Hammer tackle, before Hamison attempted a short side play himself a set later, only to be bumped into touch by a Turbo-Foxx combo. Cam Murray and Junior Paulo joined the fray now, the Blues got six again in the twenty, and it was critical they put down points now, ten minutes from the break.

Play paused for David Fifita, who smashed into Teddy’s shoulder, to leave the park, giving Queensland a brief chance to reset their line, and putting pressure on New South Wales to resume all that escalating momentum on the very first play. That’s just what they did, making good on that early aborted left sweep with some of the crispest ball handling of the night as the Penrith machine took over the reins – no-looker from Cleary to Luai, subliminal dummy from Luai to draw in DCE and then short ball to Martin, hard line run from Martin to go over.

It was a stunning riposte to those sceptical of Martin’s inclusion in the New South Wales side, narrowing the deficit to four as Cleary booted a predictable two through the posts. Martin delivered strong metres on the restart too, as news came down from the sheds that Fifita was only a Category 2, and would likely return after the break. Queensland struggled to get out of their own end now, with DCE kicking well within the thirty, while To’o came up with a superb sequel to his earlier mad charge to ensure the Blues were at the red zone midway through.

Their first few passes in the red zone were a bit wonky, so it all had to come down to Cleary’s kick, which the Maroons just managed to survive. They were looking seriously exhausted now, and really struggling for position, especially since there had been three and a half minutes since the last stoppage. They got a break with a Munster ruck error, in what might well be the Blues’ last real chance to accumulate position before the sheds. A big pair of dummies from Crichton and Cleary ushered them into the red zone, where Cleary sent it left immediately.

Queensland scrambled to clean it up, Turbo took the high ball, but was flooded by half the Maroons, forcing a changeover, and tempting the visitors to risk their challenge in an attempt to prove that Walsh had knocked it on in the air. They didn’t get any joy on this particular point, but the footage of Harry Grant’s subsequent contact was ambiguous enough that New South Wales were permitted to retain their challenge. Meanwhile, Martin had time to prepare his next defensive move, and delivered an absolute brutal hit on Collins on play one.

This would be the last big statement before the break for the visitors, as Cleary lost the footy under pressure from Hunt midway through their last set. The Maroons hadn’t given up a halftime lead in Origin since 2014, and looked pretty renewed after the sheds, delivering a series of big charges before Munster booted it to Ado-Carr’s wing. To’o continued to take on the middle, Paulo rolled through Collins to make a few extra post-contacts into DCE and Reuben Cotter, and Walsh collected Cleary’s kick as he was smothered by Luai and Crichton.

Fifita supercharged the next set with an offload for Munster, and yet New South Wales regathered pretty quickly to ensure that Daly was only at his forty when he put boot to ball. The Foxx had had a pretty quiet night for his return to the Blues jersey, but he followed his effort under the high ball by glimpsing a break in the line now, laying a platform for Cleary to boot his next one from the Queensland thirty. Cobbo stepped in to give Walsh some relief, and for a few seconds it looked like this would be another defensive success from the hosts.

Origin can change quickly, however, and all it took was an errant Holmes offload for the whole rhythm of the night to shift. Koroisau attacked the ball three times – first, by reaching out his palm to deflect it, then by sticking out a boot to angle it away from the crush of Maroon jerseys, and finally by scooping it up and slamming over untouched for a try against the run of play. Ashley Klein blew the whistle immediately, and while the replay suggested Api’s first touch might have been forward, it made up for the questionable call on the Frizell crossover.

With Cleary adding an easy two, the Blues had the lead for the first time tonight. DCE hit back with the boot immediately though, executing the game’s next 40/20 as soon as his men had ball in hand again. In yet another heartstopping shift in fortune, however, Collins lost it on play two, directly in front of the posts, beneath a clinical tackle from Isaah Yeo. Holmes started to make up for that offload with his best charge of the night early in the count, forcing Murray to really commit to the ankle tap to hold him up, and yet once again the Maroons fumbled.

This time the error came from Taulagi, and with Cotter saving a clutch kick on the line, Luai coming in hard on top in an effort to punch the footy free, and Walsh yanking on Luai’s hair, tempers flared for the first time since the sheds. Tom Flegler was now on the park, and faced with his first defensive challenge when the Foxx backed into Cotter’s shoulder for a bump into Queensland territory. Pangai was back too, and opened the count with five post-contacts, before taking another carry on the third, and searching for the second phase, but to no avail.

Holmes took the kick, capping off another terrific period of Maroons defence, while also winning his men a Pangai flop in the process. Another Origin arm wrestle now ensued, punctuated by some sharp play from the Queensland spine. First, Walsh made his biggest acceleration on the return, galvanising enough to survive being cut down abruptly by the New South Wales defence and inspire Grant into one of his fastest darts from dummy half as well. For a moment, it looked like this speed had died with the set – until Pangai dropped the ball.

The escalating energy of Walsh’s return and Grant’s run now crystallised around the Maroons’ single best right sweep of the game. Grant himself drove it deep into live, and popped it one for DCE to sent a clinical ball out to Walsh, who caught-and-passed in turn to Cobbo. The Brisbane backliner set his eyes on the corner, and generated enough speed at close range to utterly defy a Luai ankle tap, meaning it was too late when Teddy came in on top. Holmes added the extras, and the hosts had showed that they too could score against the run of play.

As the final quarter arrived, then, the Blues were back to the four point deficit that had greeted them at the break. If there was ever a time to bring Nicho Hynes off the bench, this was it, and the game’s favourite player looked positively restless now as he gazed on from the pine. Queensland defended especially brutally on the next set, from the Hammer shutting down a short side play to Holmes putting a full stop on a midfield charge from Luai. New South Wales needed an error, and they got it when DCE coughed up the footy in the face of Haas.

It had been over four minutes since the last stoppage in play, so the Blues were facing a particularly exhausted Queensland line, and got six again on the very first tackle to garner virtually an entire set inside the ten. The left sweep didn’t come together, partly due to a bouncing ball from Luai that disrupted Crichton’s pass out to To’o. In the most suspenseful moment so far, Cobbo got hands to it, and looked primed to travel the length of the park to seal the deal with a hat trick, but instead he knocked it on, and the visitors received the scrum.

Haas took the first charge into the posts, Teddy busted through Flegler but was downed by Carrigan on the right, Yeo took another steadier at the crossbar, Koroisau tried to dart over beside the left padding, and finally the Blues headed right, where Turbo got a fast ball to the Foxx, but not quite rapid enough to give him space to cross over. All this consolidating vision had to congeal into Cleary’s kick, and the magician delivered, booting it to the left edge, where Martin knocked it back, Luai extemporised a splendid wide ball, and Crichton slammed over.

The Penrith machine had saved the day once again, right down to the ice-cold sideline goal that Cleary drilled through the posts to retain his men’s precarious two-point lead. The drama continued early in the restart, where Carrigan clashed heads with Turbo, but got sent to the bin for a supposed shoulder charge, bringing the star fullback off the park and sending a fresh roar of support round and round Adelaide Oval as Hynes finally trotted on for his Origin debut, while the Maroons were down to twelve until the last thirty seconds of this evening’s contest.

Tempers had flared following the hit on Turbo, which saw him sidelined for the remainder of the match with a Category 1, and sparked again with another brilliant showing from the Penrith machine – grubber from Luai, barnstorming run from Martin to ricochet Walsh back on the chalk, and follow-up effort from Crichton to plant him back in goal. Yet in one of the biggest plays of the night, the Maroons got the short dropout back, Tino Fa’asamaleaui almost busted through the line, and Crichton got done for a leg pull as he brough Grant to ground.

Nevertheless, the Blues survived the next set, and got some breathing-space in defence when Taulagi become the next player to leave the park, having copped a Cleary hip in the face just after Hynes executed a mammoth low shot on Walsh. Fifita shifted to left centre, Jai Arrow came on at left back row, and the game was at peak suspense and volatility, and it all constellated around the Hammer, who busted through an Ado-Carr tackle, plunged into space, and crossed over untounched to put the Maroons ahead once more with a man down.

It was possibly the worst moment of the Foxx’s Origin career, and a bad sequence too for Teddy, who slipped to ground as last line of defence. Yet the Sydney fullback’s night got even worse when a Martin error found Queensland camped out on the New South Wales line. DCE kicked, Teddy got hands to it, but Collins somehow managed to make his way to the contest, curl the footy into his chest, come to ground with it, and offload for Munster to cross untouched, in one of the best Rooster-on-Rooster showdowns we’ve ever seen from Origin.

Holmes missed the extras but it didn’t matter – this was yet another Origin miracle from the Maroons, who had spend most of the match defending their end, only to sink into their attacking flow with twelve men on the park. Time and again, they’ve proved their capacity to come away with the win even or especially when everything seems destined for New South Wales greatness, and Billy Slater’s tenure at coach only seems to have intensified that. Blues fans are in for an intimidating prospect, then, when we rock up at Suncorp for Game 2 in June.