A late try from Billy Slater gave Queensland a 16-12 victory over New South Wales in game one of the State of Origin series.
Blues had threatened an upset at Suncorp in series opener
A late try from Billy Slater gave Queensland a thrilling 16-12 victory over New South Wales in game one of the State of Origin series.
The full-back crossed with eight minutes remaining at Suncorp Stadium to settle a pulsating game that had looked set to sensationally go the Blues' way.
Quick-fire tries from Mitchell Pearce and Michael Jennings in the space of four second-half minutes had put the underdogs into a shock 12-10 lead - despite the fact they had spent the majority of the match defending for their lives.
However, the Maroons - who had led 6-0 at the break - avoided an upset on home soil when skipper Darren Lockyer set up Slater for the game-winner.
Dominant
Not even the most loyal Blue could deny that their great rivals had been the better side, though the hosts simply couldn't turn their dominance into points.
They had broken the deadlock after just seven minutes when Cameron Smith's grubber kick set up the opening try for Jonathan Thurston, who also landed the first of his two conversions to make it 6-0.
The score was no more than the Maroons deserved for an early onslaught that saw them almost camped out in their opponents' half.
In contrast, the Blues - now back under the stewardship of Ricky Stuart as they look to avoid a sixth successive series defeat - struggled to make much of an impression on their rare moments of promise in attack.
They fell further behind at the start of the second half when indecision between full-back Josh Dugan and winger Brett Morris allowed debutant Jharal Yow Yeh to nip in and claim Cooper Cronk's well-weighted kick to the right corner.
Thurston was unable to add the extras; he also missed a relatively straightforward penalty attempt that came off the back of a succession of drop-outs forced during a period of incessant pressure.
His misses looked set to prove costly, though, when the Blues produced a sensational two-try salvo that suddenly put them in the driving seat.
They finally got on the scoreboard after 65 minutes when Greg Bird's burst through the initial defensive line led to him setting up the supporting Pearce.
Half-back partner Jacob Soward slotted over the extras and was also on target soon after when the men from New South Wales scored the try of the contest to stun the home crowd.
Besieged
Having been besieged with high balls throughout the night, Dugan showed his attacking prowess when, coming from deep, he found the perfect running angle to set Jennings screaming through a huge hole in the Maroons' defence.
The centre had the option of using the supporting Morris to his left but instead threw a superb dummy, leaving last-man Slater twisted into the turf.
Suddenly behind in a match they had been in complete control of, Queensland turned to their big guns to carve out the crucial try in the closing minutes.
Cameron Smith and Thurston both worked the ball from right to left to Lockyer, who carried on drifting away from the posts before throwing a superbly-timed pass back on the inside for the supporting Slater to accept and finish.
Thurston was this time on target with his kick to finally kill off a brave Blues team - they will now hope to keep the series alive on home soil on June 15.
