Gutsy Maroons storm home to take Origin I in Adelaide

The Maroons have taken a 1-0 lead in this year’s best-of-three State of Origin series after surging home to finish atop the Blues 26-18 at the Adelaide Oval last night.

Queensland contended with injury, HIA, and sin bin woes to pull off a spirited, last-ditch win against a subpar NSW outfit in front of 48,613 spectators in the South Australian capital.

Tensions flared early in the piece after Maroons debutant Reece Walsh was taken out mid-air before Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scurried through to pounce on a deft Cameron Munster grubber to draw first blood for Queensland.

Off a following set penalty, a slick, backline shift resulted in a Selwyn Cobbo four-pointer to give the Maroons a 10-to-nothing lead after just 11 minutes.

Tom Gilbert was taken from the field just shy of the quarter-mark after the Maroons back-rower suffered a shoulder dislocation.

The Blues spent the next stretch of the game with the field position advantage and were denied twice – including a Tyson Frizell effort that required forensic examination from the video official – by desperate Queensland defence headed by winger Murray Taulagi.

Liam Martin made his presence felt upon entering proceedings pouring through a hole off the hip of Penrith teammate Jarome Luai to open the Blues’ account.

David Fifita was forced off the field following a head knock prior to halftime but was ultimately able to prove his fitness and return.

The Maroons took a 10-6 lead into the sheds despite the Blues dominating the possession and territory battle.

Brad Fittler’s men took their first lead of the contest on the other side of the intermission after hooker Apisai Koroisau scooped up a rogue Queensland offload from their own 20-metre line to scuttle over for a try.

A brilliant Walsh cut-out sent Cobbo flying down the right touchline and through the NSW cover defence for his second of the night as the Maroons wrestled the lead back just shy of the hour-mark.

66 minutes in, the Blues finally yielded a result from an attacking kick with Martin reaching into an aerial scrum to tap the Steeden back to a supporting Luai who summed up the situation and moved the ball on to Stephen Crichton who crossed.

Nathan Cleary nailed a difficult conversion to make it 18-16 entering the final stages as the Maroons lost Cobbo to an apparent hip injury.

Tom Trbojevic was collected high by a stray Thomas Flegler shoulder off the subsequent kick-off which ended the Manly star’s night and resulted in a binning for the Maroons firebrand.

Trbojevic was replaced by debutant and reigning Dally M Medallist Nicho Hynes who was forced to slot into an unfamiliar role at right centre.

Queensland were hit with another blow with Taulagi exiting the field with seven-and-a-half minutes to play after copping a knock to the head.

Down a man and trotting out a Ben Hunt-David Fifita centre-pairing, Queensland launched an attacking raid from inside their own half with Munster linking up with Tabuai-Fidow who pushed away from Josh Addo-Carr and stood up James Tedesco to dive over for the match-winning try.

Billy Slater’s men sealed a famous victory thanks to Lindsay Collins who trudged after a Daly Cherry-Evans bombed, outleaped his Roosters teammate Tedesco, and got a one-handed offload to a supporting Munster to send the Maroon-clad fans into delirium.

Reuben Cotter, who was forced to go the full distance due to injury-forced re-shuffling and rewarded Slater with 84 run metres and 48 tackles, took home Player of the Match honours.

Munster scored a try, assisted on another, and broke four tackles whilst Tabuai-Fidow scored two and ran for a team-high 147 metres.

For the Blues, Martin scored a try and made 31 tackles whilst Brian To’o ran for 201 metres with six tackle breaks and a line break.

Despite completing six more sets, running for 282 more metres, and missing five less tackles, the Blues were unable to make the most of their chances and stood bemused as Queensland ran riot over the final 10 minutes.

The series shifts to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium – a venue in which the Maroons have won 13 of the past 16 meetings – in three weeks’ time with NSW in need of a win to keep their series’ hopes alive.

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