NSW dominated on every count you want to mention in State of Origin I but the marks of years of Queensland dominance were just as evident.
Think a pink-ribbon scar rather than a seven-year itch.
At 14-0 the Blues had every chance to put the game away but left the door open for yet another dramatic Maroons comeback.
That it didn’t happen was a credit to NSW’s resolve and composure. Look at debutant Blake Ferguson patiently waiting to put up a ball bouncing like a grenade as Darius Boyd bore down on him.
For much of the contest Queensland were served the bitter taste of Origin dominance they have spent so long dispensing. The Blues were mighty up front and ate up the metres around the ruck and the Maroons had few answers.
Queensland were faced with an image of themselves in the mirror and didn’t know how to react.
If you can’t beat `em, join `em, they say. For NSW it was at least a case of playing like them and we might finally be witnessing the end of an era.
The Blues’ kicking game was better. Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney outpointed their illustrious and proven halves rivals in Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston.
A man-of-the-match effort from Luke Lewis, not Nate Myles, and a piece of individual brilliance from Michael Jennings, not Greg Inglis, Billy Slater or Cameron Smith, told the tale of another classic Origin battle.
New NSW coach Laurie Daley didn’t say much in public in the lead-up to the Origin opener but he has been furiously working behind the scenes since last year and his meticulous preparation has paid dividends.
The delightful set play that produced Jarryd Hayne’s opening try is proof of that.
That Queensland were outplayed so comprehensively yet only lost 14-6 will be of some comfort and it will not surprise if we return to ANZ Stadium in six weeks with the series locked at one-all.
But that belief that has eluded NSW for so long was there in spades. Simply look at how debutants Maloney, Ferguson and Andrew Fifita played. They were not overawed by the occasion. Rather the opposite.
Queensland were not at their best but much of that was due to the spirit and enterprise of NSW.
State of Origin is well and truly alive.
