NSW looked unbeatable after 20 minutes. But then it all turned

Well, NSW got that flying start they wanted. After a string of poor beginnings, Laurie Daley had talked about a good opening as if that was the match.

With two tries in the first 20 minutes and a priceless 10-point lead, a shortcut to the Origin shield lay wide open for the Blues.

Instead, the dream start was a false dawn and they will have to take the long way, via Brisbane.

On Wednesday night in Melbourne, where Queensland had won once in six attempts over the last 36 years, the Maroons put on one of the finest second-half performances in memory.

Whether new (Sam Walker), old (Cameron Munster) or reheated (Selwyn Cobbo), Queensland’s selections fired like crackers.

In somewhat embarrassing contrast, the Blues’ choices, while limited by injuries, fizzled. The omissions of Cameron Murray from the starting line-up and Haumole Olakau’atu from the entire squad were even more mystifying at the end than they had seemed at the outset.

But maybe, like the excitement and the frequent shifts in momentum throughout a classic game, this was all a distraction from the underlying narrative of 2026. Aside from the 20 minutes in Sydney after Kalyn Ponga was sent off, Queensland have been the better team: a smarter, quicker-thinking, freer and more trusting in their teammates in the improvisational theatre sports that Origin football, at its heart, has always been.

The first half had demonstrated the fickleness of confidence in representative football. NSW did not just start well. After 20 minutes they looked supreme, unbeatable.

While Queensland dithered and tried to cheat their metres around the edges, Payne Haas was bullocking and James Tedesco sniping through the middle. Quick thinking from Mark Nawaqanitawase and Nathan Cleary converted half-chances into six-point realities. Blue chests seemed to carry more air than the Maroon ones.

Then, in a quick flip that would be the envy of punters playing the real estate market, everything turned. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow ran between Kotoni Staggs and Dylan Lucas, Munster hurled an overhead pass, Trent Loiero was in, and it was Queensland looking like the winner.

The first half continued to see-saw, little pivots of luck sending one team soaring and the other plummeting.

Plans were being superseded by circumstance. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s early head-binning meant NSW enjoyed a size advantage. But when Haas and Mitch Barnett took their break, Fa’asuamaleaui and Lindsay Collins were running at the undersized Victor Radley in the middle.

Chances were not coming from set plays, but from rogue rebounds and broken field. For