NRL | 2024 State of Origin Game 1 – One Minute Match Review

2024 State of Origin Game 1 – One Minute Match Review – NSW BLUES 10 QUEENSLAND MAROONS 38.  The one-minute match report – giving you the bare minimum NRL round up in the bare minimum of time.

Queensland have taken a 1-0 lead in the State of Origin series after a 38-10 win at the Sydney Olympic Stadium in a game that will be remembered for Joseph Sua’ali’i’s 8th minute sending off.

The sending off will be debated for a long time, but in short Sua’ali’i got Reece Walsh late and high in the head after he passed the ball, albeit with Walsh sliding or slipping lower. It took the spark plugs from the game but did drive on NSW who battled magnificently and the final scoreline probably flattered Queensland.

The Maroons had hit the front before the sending off, with Daly Cherry-Evans running blind side from dummy half after a line break and finding Ben Hunt back on the inside. 

Despite being down a player NSW had quite a number of opportunities in the Queensland 20 metre zone in both halves, but they only took advantage once in the first half when a deft kick from Jarome Luai found James Tedesco. Prior to this and after NSW blew some good territory with a lack of finesse from the halves and errors.

The Maroons blew the game apart in a short burst in the middle part of the first half with two quick tries to Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, who had moved to cover Reece Walsh at fullback after Walsh was ruled to have a Grade 1 head injury. Queensland carved up down their left for this period, but the Blues hung on to trail by just 20-6 at the break.

After half time NSW came out with some real purposes, and really gave it to Queensland. They were rewarded early with a try to the excellent Zac Lomax from a cross field kick, which brought the score to 20-10. For the first 20 minutes or so NSW were the better side and with fewer errors or a half taking the game by the scruff of the neck like Nathan Cleary would, they could have put Queensland under a lot of pressure. One more try could have made it a four point game, and with the Maroon not playing particularly well in the second half it could have been one of the great Blues wins.

Ultimately Queensland broke through with three tries in the last 15 minutes to Ben Hunt, Xavier Coates and the Hammer sealing a great game with his third try, which he celebrated instead of his usual Dolphin-like custom.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Was it a send off? Yes, but we weren’t quite expecting to see it in Origin. The fact he’s looking a 4-5 weeks probably confirms he should have been sent. Walsh looked to be targeted, and rightly so given his sparkling form and hateability, and NSW were lucky not to have been penalised for a Walsh kick in the first set of the game that would have been penalised every week in the NRL. That’s the Origin leniency that people have been crying foul about.  But that is letting the more petty, nit-picking decisions go so the game isn’t full of whistle blowing. But if you lead with a shoulder and try and smash a player without the ball then your chance of a tackle worth sending off increases significantly. Origin or not. You can still pull off a great Origin tackle, like when Liam Martin savagely snapped J’Maine Hopgood in half. Legal, hard, legendary. The silver lining for rugby league is it opens up the door for Latrell Mitchell for Game Two. Sua’ali’i’s selection was never popular, given his pending decision to rugby union, and he will now have to live with the fact forever that his night will go down as one of the worst one game efforts in Origin.

If Queensland played like that against 13 players, they might not have won. NSW played with some real spirit, and with one more try in the dominant early part of the second half we could have had a real game. Sadly, as much as we love Nicho Hynes, a better game from another halfback probably gets NSW closer. And during the same period Queensland forgot to play football. It was only when they expanded a little more did they break through with Ben Hunt’s second try. 

Billy Slater is either very lucky or some kind of genius. But he must be pretty smug with his selection of Selwyn Cobbo on the bench as the game played out.

At least for the series the next game is in Melbourne where the Maroons have a terrible record. But NSW beware, Queensland conversion of a Game One win to series is very good. Even better when winning a Game One in Sydney.

Courtesy of nrl.com

2024 State of Origin Game 1 Stats

The 38-10 win to Queensland was the third highest margin for a Game One at any ground and equals the Sydney Olympic Stadium record of 28 points, set in 2002 when NSW beat Queensland by 32-4.

It was the Maroons biggest win at the Sydney Olympic Stadium, beating their previous best of a ten point margin.

It was also Queensland’s highest score at the ground, beating the 28 points set back in 2010.

It also equaled Queensland’s biggest score in Origin at any NSW ground. Qld won 38-22 at the Sydney Football Stadium in 1988.

Queensland have stretched their Game One H2H supremacy to 25-21.

NSW still lead 6-5 for Game Ones at the Sydney Olympic Stadium.

Queensland have now won four games in a row at the Sydney Olympic Stadium for Game One of a series. And in bad news for the Blues fans, the Maroons went on to win the series on all three of the previous Game One wins.

2024 State of Origin Game 1 Team of the Match

We’ve borrowed from our regular NRL Team of the Week to come up with a best side for Game One.

This is all based on stats with different qualifying stats for each position, so probably doesn’t tell the full story of the effort put in by NSW.