New South Wales might be staring down the barrel of nine straight series defeats but punters are giving the Blues a genuine chance of beating Queensland tonight as betting intensifies ahead of State Of Origin game one.

Special Offer: $500 STATE OF ORIGIN FREE BET

After an initial surge of support for Queensland which resulted in the odds of the Maroons winning game one firm from $1.47 to $1.42 with online bookie Sportingbet.com.au, some momentum is shifting back towards the Blues with solid backing for them at the outside odds of $2.85. Queensland’s odds have subsequently drifted slightly, from $1.42 back to $1.45.

“Up until today the money has been coming in 75/25 in favour of Queensland but so far this morning it’s been very evenly split, indicating there could be some strong late support for the Blues,” Sportingbet’s Andrew Brown said.

Queensland prop Matt Scott continues to be the best backed to be awarded Man Of The Match, firming from $17 into $13 at Sportingbet. Billy Slater has also attracted support ($13 to $11) while Josh Reynolds has been the best backed Blues player, firming from $21 into $17.

Greg Inglis has shortened from $10 into $9 equal favouritism with Billy Slater and Darius Boyd to score the first try, while Daniel Tupou is the best backed Blue, firming from $13 into $11 to cross the line first tonight.

“We’re offering over 200 individual markets on the game and we’ll write tens of thousands of tickets, with the large majority of those bets being placed in the final hours before kickoff.”

State Of Origin Game 1 – QLD v NSW

Sportingbet.com.au market

Queensland $1.45

New South Wales $2.85

Queensland (-6) $1.91

Queensland (-8) $2.10

NSW (+6) $1.91

NSW (+4) $2.10

Queensland (1-12) $2.75

Queensland (13+) $2.90

NSW (1-12) $3.65

NSW (13+) $9.00

Draw $19