You can pinpoint the exact moment they threw the game away.
Queensland’s second half was nothing short of woeful and this might have been the worst moment of them all.
At 4-18 down, the Maroons had their backs up against the wall and needed a bit of composure to get themselves back into the game.
Justin O’Neill was coming off the Queensland line when he dropped it cold and straight into the waiting arms of a barnstorming Andrew Fifita.
State of Origin Game 1 coverage
» Match report and final score: Blues destroy Maroons at Suncorp Stadium
» Five talking points from the Blues’ Game 1 victory
» WATCH: All the Origin 1 highlights
» WATCH: The wheels fall off for Queensland in costly, comical error
» WATCH: Jarryd Hayne and Cooper Cronk trade moments of brilliance
» WATCH: Mitchell Pearce knocked out in sickening collision
There was Buckley’s chance of anyone stopping the Blues forward and he crashed over to add another four points to his side’s growing lead.
It was the kind of crucial error that has been eradicated from Queensland’s game for the good part of a decade – but it could prove to be a telling omen for the rest of the series.
theHunter
Guest
What Smith did wasn't excusable at all...The margin was just 8 and there was still time, a lot of it. Defending on the 40m mark out of your goal line is much less riskier than defending on your goal line. Even if Maroons had got that ball, they would be still in their red zone. The risk they took was unnecessary and directly lead to Tedesco's try. O'Neil's mistake is a given. If Blues had dropped a similar ball, it would have been a try to QLD but I'm sure Pearce or Maloney wouldn't have done a short line drop out kick when there was still alot of time left and the scoreline reachable. It was a poor choice by Smith and no one seems to care about that.
Big Daddy
Guest
Obviously written with after the game but with a couple of pen and inks under the belt. Good win to NSW but series is not over yet.
Emcie
Roar Guru
what was costly was that O'Neils knock on and Smiths dropout happened in five minutes of each other. Smiths was at least excusable in that it was a chance for QLD to go on the attack, O'Neils was inexcusable
DH
Guest
Queensland needed to do something to swing the momentum their way, if they had continued the game as it was going, they were going nowhere. He took a chance and it obvioiusly didn't pay off.
theHunter
Guest
Although O'neil's mistake was costly, for me, what threw the game away for QLD was the short line drop out kick by Smith. I mean what was that for? That lead to Tedesco's try and Blues just fed of that.
Baz
Guest
Lets go easy here. Great win by NSW. The big difference is fifia we were super dangerous with him on the field in the first half. Qld were carrying some passengers dont write them off yet. NSW made zero errors in their own half limited the oppertunities given to QLD QLD almost scored 3 times so they are not far off.
Taree Raider
Guest
It wasn't Gagai it was O'Neil you gibbera. Regardless, how good is it to see the Blues absolutely dominate the game. There wasn't one bad player for NSW. I bet Slater & Hess get a start in game two, but it won't make any difference the Blues are too good. I wonder how many of them loyal Queenslanders pack onto Suncorp for game three if game two is a repeat of game one. ANSWER. None because they are good supporters of winners. Suncorp will be full of NSW supporters, I think I'll be one of them. After this series, SOA will be dead, QLD have nothing to offer