State of Origin 2015 Game 1 results: 3 things we learned from Queensland’s 11-10 win

The first game of the State of Origin is in the books and Queensland’s win at ANZ Stadium means the Blues’ road will be just as difficult as many predicted. What wasn’t anticipated was how close the opening game, and that should set up for a fascinating neutral site Game 2 in Melbourne.

Queensland opened the scoring thanks for some sloppy defense by New South Wales. Cooper Cronk trundled across the line with a simple feint, catching the Blues out of position. It was far too easy for a game of this importance, and served as foreshadowing for a disastrous second half.

It took just seven minutes before the Blues answered back. A stunning run by Josh Dugan was capped off with a perfect kick that allowed Josh Morris to get over the line. The conversion was too difficult for Mitchell Pierce, but the try showed that New South Wales had the talent to hang with the more athletic Queenslanders.

The Maroons were largely out of place during the game’s opening stanza. Greg Inglis was stunningly ineffective, and had Jarryd Hayne not left rugby league for the NFL this game would have been a lot more open. Beau Scott scored New South Wales’ second, and took a seemingly commanding lead into halftime. They hadn’t dominated the scoreboard, but they stayed tough -- and in front of a home crowd that looked to be enough.

Everything fell apart for New South Wales in the second half. Early aggressiveness was replaced with complacency. Simple errors were compounded with lapses in concentration and that allowed the Maroons to capitalize. A Will Chambers try and Jonathan Thurston field goal were enough to hand Game 1 victory to Queensland, and with home-field advantage squandered the Blues have some soul searching to do in the next month.

It’s expected for the Blues to have some early-series jitters thanks to the youth in their squad. Many players are making their State of Origin debut, or are relatively untested at this level of play -- but they played scared. This was compounded as the game went on, and the loose play of the second half was replaced with rigid, nervous ball control. Pierce’s kicking game can allow for the Blues to control the field, but his kicking game needs a lot more offensive support.

Transitioning Inglis from his natural position of fullback to center was a concept that worked on paper, but didn’t pan out in practice. He doesn’t look comfortable playing on the front line, and his brand of rugby league just doesn’t work without space to move. The Maroons are stuck with an odd situation. Inglis is too talented to start on the bench, but so is Billy Slater. It’s an embarrassment of riches, but Inglis was a detriment to Queensland in Game 1.

The scoreline indicates a far closer game than reality gave us. The long try was beautiful, but New South Wales was kept on their back foot for most of the game and were unable to capitalize on opportunities. They wont get a lot of opportunities to score against a staunch Queensland defense, and they’re only making this problem worse by having meandering sets of six and settling for poor dummy half runs.