NSW lead 10-6 after 40 minutes of State of Origin 1 at ANZ Stadium.
A typically tough exchange in the opening 10 minutes whet the appetite of fans around the country. Both sides ran 5 sets and completed 4 with 1 error each. NSW had the better share of the penalties with 2 to 1.
QLD were denied a try in the 8th minute after a kick from Cooper Cronk was chased by Slater. Billy was adjudged to have pushed Hodkinson off the ball as he attempted to ground the ball.
Cooper Cronk opened the scoring in the 13th minute. The NSW defence was not set on the left fringe after a quick play the ball by Cameron Smith. Cronk dummied wide a stepped off the right foot the cross the line 15 in from touch. Johnathon Thurston converted to put the Maroons ahead 6-0.
Two penalties in a row for NSW gave them great field possession in the 17th minute. Mitchell Pearce stepped off his left and took on the line, only to cop one high and be brought down short of the line. A misplaced bomb from Hodkinson was gathered by Darius Boyd who was fouled in the air by Will Hopoate.
A beautiful offload by James Tamou sent Josh Dugan flying through a gap. Dugan ran out of options and threw the ball on to the toe for his right winger Josh Morris who gathered the ball ahead of Boyd to score in the corner. Hodkinson missed the conversion to leave NSW still trailing 4-6 in the 22nd minute.
Will Chambers knocked the ball on trying to shut down the execution of a back-line move on the left wing. The resulting scrum saw the ball move through the hands and finish with Beau Scott crashing through three defenders to score the Blues second in the 27th to make it 10-6.
NSW looked resolute. As the run-on props left the field after a brutal opening stint, QLD attacked the right fringe. The Blues sliding defence held the ball up over the line in the 31st minute. Josh Dugan looked solid at the back. After a brilliant attacking display, his composure under the high ball and kick return was exceptional under pressure.
“Exactly what we expected,” commented QLD skipper Cameron Smith.
