Queensland drew first blood in the 2012 State of Origin series with a hard-fought 18-10 victory over New South Wales in Melbourne.
Inglis breaks record with his 13th Origin try to clinch win for Maroons
Queensland drew first blood in the 2012 State of Origin series with a hard-fought 18-10 victory over New South Wales in Melbourne.
A controversial try from Greg Inglis with seven minutes to go settled a bruising battle in favour of the Maroons, who are chasing a seventh consecutive series triumph but their first without now-retired skipper Darren Lockyer.
The Blues will consider themselves hard done by, though, as it was adjudged Robbie Farah's foot had dislodged the ball out of Inglis' hand, rather than the Australia international knocking on.
Darius Boyd had crossed twice in the opening half at the Etihad Stadium to give Queensland a 12-4 lead at the break, though the Blues threatened a comeback when Michael Jennings touched down soon after the re-start.
Decision
In the end, New South Wales may look back with regret on their decision to kick for goal when two points adrift, despite being in the ascendancy.
They had started the game on the front foot too, breaking the deadlock after just six minutes when Akuila Uate capitalised on Robbie Farah's up-and-under taking a kind bounce off fellow winger Boyd.
The momentum changed, however, when the two teams came to blows midway through the opening half.
Despite a number of players being involved, Blues centre Michael Jennings was picked out and punished, the centre being sin-binned for throwing a swinging right hand that landed on the top of Brent Tate's head.
Queensland made the most of the extra man to get Boyd over in the left corner, while an almost carbon-copy effort, with Uate again caught coming off his wing too early, meant they led by eight at half time.
Made amends
Jennings made amends for his earlier misdemeanour by scoring quickly after the interval, capitalising on Billy Slater's inability to reel in a bomb.
Todd Carney's conversion cut the gap to two yet, when awarded a penalty in the 51st minute, it seemed a surprise that they went for the posts. The stand-off pushed his effort to the right, wasting the opportunity.
The miss let Queensland off the hook and they held firm in defence before clinching the win through Inglis, who scored his 13th Origin try - a new record for the series - at the age of just 25.
The Blues were aggrieved at the award by the video official, particularly as Farah's foot had accidentally caught the ball. In the end, though, it was decided to play the advantage, meaning the Maroons were home and dry.
They will now look to wrap up the series in Game II on June 13, though New South Wales will have home advantage at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
