State of Origin 2021 Game 1: Queensland Maroons v NSW Blues – live!
Queensland #Queensland
8.53am EDT 08:53
I’ll bit you adieu for now, and leave you with a report of the match in case you’re after a succinct wrap-up.
What a way to start the series. We’ll back to blog game two, but in the interim keep an eye out tomorrow for Matt Cleary’s analysis.
Thanks for joining me.
8.21am EDT 08:21
Maroons captain DCE says “we just didn’t give them what we hoped”. He looks crestfallen. “We’ve got to shrug it off,” he adds. Suncorp Stadium is waiting, and if he shrugs for the next three weeks something might happen, if history is anything to go on.
But for now, there will no doubt be some soul-searching because that was horrendous for Queensland, and Paul Green’s tenure could not have sucked more. Not an eloquent way to put it, but true all the same. That’s not to take plaudits away from NSW, who were dominant in every area with 51-31 tackle busts and 9-1 line breaks.
Luai and Cleary are markedly more upbeat than Cherry-Evans, joking with the panel and making cute understated observations about the game that just do not befit his team’s output.
8.09am EDT 08:09
Full-time! Queensland 6-50 New South Wales
80 mins: That’s all she wrote. The Blues have just tallied their biggest winning margin to date with that 44-pointsm rout.
8.08am EDT 08:08
77 mins: This is a bit decent from Queensland. They are smothered by some quick Blues defending on their line. Coates has redeemed himself with a catch as he hurtles into the right corner and JUST offloads in time to Gagai but Yeo is desperate and he’s there and has stopped a would-be consolation try. Fittler is banging his hands on the bench in front of him.
8.03am EDT 08:03
74 mins: Coates knocks on (again). Once Qld are back with the ball they have a sniff. They’re inside the 20, then closer, but the kick gives them no joy. There can’t be many times NSW have scored 50 points. I can think of maybe only one.
7.56am EDT 07:56
Try! Queensland 6-50 New South Wales
68 mins: Off the dummy half, Cleary is quick on his feet and threads between Munster and Capewell. He finds Tedesco, who dummies and passes to Trbojevic for his second Origin hat-trick.
7.54am EDT 07:54
Try! Queensland 6-44 New South Wales
65 mins: I can hardly keep up. I think they call this bonking. Queensland are tired. They have some possession but NSW get a penalty and they’re off and away. Saifiti has the ball under the post and the prop simply barges his way past defenders. Rather easy that looked. Not saying I could do it.
Mitchell, for his part, has clocked 33.1km/h in this match, bettering his highest speed in the NRL this year of 31.6km/h.
7.49am EDT 07:49
Try! Queensland 6-38 New South Wales
61 mins: Stop the count! It’s hard to believe there are still 20 minutes to play. Mitchell hasn’t had enough and scores again after Coates drops a bomb. It’s called a no try and sent upstairs after Haas is deemed offside but it’s given.
7.44am EDT 07:44
Try! Queensland 6-32 New South Wales
60 mins: Ray Warren lets out an involuntary “oh em gee!” as the omnipresent Trbojevic takes his side into the 30s. Luai cuts a swathe through the Maroons’ belly, beating Kaufusi. Mitchell is there and looks for Trbojevic under the posts. It’s too easy. This is unassailable. Trbojevic and Mitchell are the Blues Brothers on a mission from God.
7.39am EDT 07:39
57 mins: What was I saying about Martin’s baptism of fire? Munster has stuck his boot in to the Panthers player and is still on the field.
7.36am EDT 07:36
54 mins: The Blues are clearly not going to leave this to chance and have their opponents pinned back on their line. Murray is off for a HIA and Liam Martin has been brought on. Tough time for a debut.
Here’s Mitchell’s try.
7.34am EDT 07:34
Try! Queensland 6-26 New South Wales
50 mins: Latrell makes some magic, adding his own try at the left corner. NSW are having a lot of joy on the sides. Panthers teammates Cleary and Luai set it up and Trbojevic gives the ball a little kick right where Mitchell needs. Feldt is on report for attacking Murray’s head with upper arm or shoulder. Very difficult to see Qld coming back from this.
7.30am EDT 07:30
48 mins: This is becoming more aggressive. Sutton is having words with Luai. More accurately, he is repeatedly calling Luai, who is dawdling. Ofahengaue had just cleaned up Tedesco before he could take a high ball. Luai appears to have a crack and Ofahengaue … slaps him? Luai eventually approached the ref and calls him “bro” before accepting his warning.
7.25am EDT 07:25
46mins: Munster kicks long and Tedesco scoops it up. NSW make up some ground but Haas can’t quite get an offload away. It bounces, and Cook has a fruitless crack. Bit of an opportunity here for the Maroons.
7.22am EDT 07:22
Second half! Peep we’re off!
43 mins: Qld could do with a run of possession. They’ve been on the wrong end of a lot of the stats thus far and need to give this home crowd some love. Grant is on the move but tackled by Sims. Fifita is back on the field having passed his HIA. Yikes, Luai has been taken out contesting the ball in the air with Coates, who was clearly going for the ball. It was an accident and Luai is okay.
7.03am EDT 07:03
Half-time! Queensland 6-20 New South Wales
40 mins: Fittler has never clapped so hard in his coaching box, thrilled at Mitchell’s defensive stand to help the Blues off their own goal line. Now the Souths man is away and avoiding a tackle. Just as the whistle blows a melee breaks out. This pushing and shoving always makes me giggle. Apparently Murray did not like something Feldt did to Addo-Carr while he was on the ground. But it changes nothing, because the Blues lead by 14 points and have set Paul Green’s hosts a second-half task.
6.57am EDT 06:57
38 mins: Qld have six again and a good chance to close the deficit a little further. Munster takes a stab in the dark and To’o is on the ball before you can say ‘boo’ but he’s brought to ground and Qld have another set.
6.55am EDT 06:55
Try! Queensland 6-20 New South Wales
36 mins: Capewell is in, and boy did Qld need that just before half-time. Holmes is set quite an angle but he converts with aplomb. Trbojevic won’t be happy with the mistake that let Capewell through. Referee Sutton has just sent Cleary off the field to have his face seen to.
Nathan Cleary’s flesh wound. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
Updated at 7.05am EDT
6.53am EDT 06:53
34 mins: Players are in the wars out there. Cleary’s cut keeps dripping and Fifita is now off for a HIA. Kaufusi drops the ball right after Qld had a six again.
6.49am EDT 06:49
32 mins: Here’s the first try from Trbojevic, who has been literally everywhere.
6.47am EDT 06:47
Try! Queensland 0-20 New South Wales
27 mins: Queensland are on the ropes this entire set as NSW make short passes out to the left. Gagai has tackled Sims quite low which has left his arms free for a perfect pass to To’o in space to run the last couple of steps home. Cleary has been patched up and converts on the angle. To compound the bad news for Qld is news that Welch has failed his HIA. Unsurprising given how he looked.
6.41am EDT 06:41
Try! Queensland 0-14 New South Wales
24 mins: This time it’s To’o in the left corner. Cook is the orchestrator, weaving through the Maroons defence and letting fly a pass which hits Tedesco and bounces backwards. He regathers and then it’s Luai, Mitchell and To’o. Cleary has blood streaming down his face. But my, Cook is so fast. He is a surf lifesaving flags champion, did you know? Mitchell slots the conversion.
6.36am EDT 06:36
Try! Queensland 0-8 New South Wales.
18 mins: Tommy Turbo! He’s rushing forward on the right and receives a long pass, gets on the outside of a static Capewell and is in. That was too easy, and my Queensland will be feeling about that needless penalty in the lead-up when Feldt took out Addo-Carr to give NSW six again right on their line. Trbojevic has been a standout so far.
6.29am EDT 06:29
16 mins: Looks like Munster hasn’t heard a six-to-go call. Crowd must be deafening. He kicks, and gifts NSW possession.
6.26am EDT 06:26
13 mins: Luai stabs the ball into Queensland’s corner and Holmes scoops up. Feldt brings the ball to the 30m line and Cherry-Evans kicks early. Ouch. Welsh is dizzy after a head clash. He stumbles attempting to walk and a trainer accompanies him off the field for an HIA. His night should be over.
6.23am EDT 06:23
10 mins: This game is lightning fast on this hard pitch. And how different the conditions are in Townsville at 18C while Melbourne, where this was supposed to be played is 18C and rainy. DCE is penalised and Nathan Cleary does the honours to give the Blues their first two points. Probably fair – they have had the better of the opening exchanges.
6.17am EDT 06:17
5mins: Kyle Feldt has had a nice couple of touches, a Townsville man making his debut at 29 as the Maroons edge forward. Fifita is up for it though. The ball is ping-ponging around before NSW are back in position but there’s been a needless drop as they approached the 20m line. Mitchell’s pass was not amazing but Sims probably should have caught it.
6.14am EDT 06:14
We’re off!
2mins: NSW run through a set before Cleary gets a kick away and Welsh and Grant makes some ground.
6.11am EDT 06:11
The players are out on the field and the Welcome to Country has been performed. Now it’s the anthem. Getting close.
6.07am EDT 06:07
I don’t have the benefit of Gallen’s wisdom, but from where I stand NSW will be best served with a couple of settling early tries, start on the front foot and remove Queensland’s home advantage. The stadium is seriously Maroon right now, maybe the most we’ve ever seen it.
Jarome Luai will be key, and I’m intrigued to see how the Panthers clique operates.
6.00am EDT 06:00
As the players warm up in the sheds, former Blues captain Paul Gallen is out on the pitch offering sage words of advice.
“Stick to the game plan. Give 100% effort, 100% of the time. And if all else fails, just smash them.”
Thanks Gal.
5.56am EDT 05:56
Here’s more on the exceptional content out of Gladys Berejiklian’s … darkened room? Only a matter of time before she’s trending.
5.51am EDT 05:51
Here is the NSW team.
The Maroons should be worried about Tom Trbojevic, according to James Tedesco. Have to say I concur.
Not many blue shirts in the crowd, and it looks as if Flinders St is rocking. If you thought Brissy was Queensland territory, you should see Townsville.
Gould is addressing the Blues’ position on the Nine panel: “We’re fine as long as they don’t jump the fence.” Believe it or not, NSW are favourites according to the bookies. I suppose that’s keeping with tradition. Billy Slater reckoned this week that the dry ground will suit Brad Fittler’s side. Guess we’ll find out shortly.
5.42am EDT 05:42
The big question mark hovering ominously over this game is, of course, how the crackdown on high hits will manifest in terms of officiating.
The NRL has already stated it will instruct referee Gerard Sutton to operate in the same manner as he would an NRL game, which would mean strict penalties for high contact, accidental or otherwise.
Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans called for a “gentlemen’s agreement” between the two states not to milk high contact. NRL head of football Graham Annesley said it was “a concern”.
“It’s an issue that’s difficult to deal with,” Annesley said this week. “The match review committee does have the ability to charge players with what they might consider to be contrary conduct.
“I’d like to think the vast majority of players in our game do not do that. I’ve already seen the NSW Origin coach come out and say NSW players won’t be doing that, and I’m sure Queensland is the same.”
Wondering if accidental contact will result in a send-off, or will there be some room to move with players placed on report and handled afterwards?
5.31am EDT 05:31
The Queensland team has landed, and Ben Hunt is 18th man. All appears as expected.
5.08am EDT 05:08
Preamble 
State of Origin week is rarely short of drama. Past years generated at least a headline a day and enough tit-for-tat to last a lifetime let alone 3×80 minutes of rugby league. In 2020, of course, the NRL backed down on its plan to forego the national anthem (hi ScoMo!).
Similarly, the build-up to game one of this series did not disappoint. Granted, it has not delivered on a Robbie-Kearns-falls-off-a-horse level, but still … we have witnessed NSW acts of espionage to conceal a SWAP IN POSITIONS between Blues wingers Josh Addo-Carr and Brian To’o, Queensland’s “smokescreening” around Dane Gagai’s alleged tonsillitis, and Phil Gould’s deep anxiety about the high-tackle crackdown’s potential to soften Origin’s “gladiators”.
Oh, ICYMI, there was also a venue change after Victoria’s Covid outbreak forced game one to be moved to Townsville. Interested to hear your thoughts. It is, in my humble opinion, an excellent decision and a real regional win that could yet set a precedent for the future. Should we be sharing the Origin love a bit more?
Anyway, here we go. Whether you are propped up on a bar stool, in a tent, or checking the score while watching re-runs of Friends, we’ll endeavour to keep you up to date on all the happenings at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
Updated at 5.22am EDT