Queensland took a step towards their fifth straight State of Origin league series with a commanding 28-24 win last night over New South Wales on a waterlogged ANZ stadium pitch in Sydney.
The Queensland halfback Johnathan Thurston stole the show with a third State of Origin man-of-the-match performance, having a hand in all five Maroons tries.
The closeness of the final scoreline flattered NSW, whose two consolation tries in the dying minutes avoided complete embarrassment in front of the shellshocked crowd of nearly 70,000 mostly diehard Blues fans.
Queensland should have their injured Test hooker Cameron Smith back for game two in Brisbane on the 16th of June.
