New South Wales are well on their way to retaining the State of Origin shield after comfortably winning the series opener on Wednesday night.

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The 18-6 victory marked back-to-back wins for the Blues at Suncorp Stadium for the first time since 1998.

Queensland halfback Daly Cherry-Evans became the oldest player in Origin history but now he’s fighting to keep his spot with the Maroons’ attack floundering.

Read on for all the key Talking Points from Origin I.

CALLS TO AXE DCE AMID MAROONS DISJOINTED SPINE

There are calls to drop Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans after the Maroons’ spine looked disjointed in a spluttering first up performance.

If Queensland were going to beat NSW, Kalyn Ponga, Cameron Munster, Daly Cherry-Evans and Harry Grant had to have their finger prints all over the game, but they struggled to click as the Maroons managed just one try in the 18-6 loss.

Andrew Johns was disappointed with Queensland’s attack in a game that could have been 30-6 if the blues kicked their goals.

“It’s been really disjointed tonight,” Johns said on Channel 9.

“Queensland team just not on the same page and really disappointed the way they have attacked.”

Johns even called for Tom Dearden to come into the team at the expense of Cherry-Evans.

“The scoreboard flatters Queensland I know they’ve missed some goals NSW, but I think the dominance,” Johns said.

“That man on screen (Dearden), I think he has to come into the team.

“I think NSW has probably been a six or a seven out of ten. I think with how much dominance they’ve had in the middle, they should have put 30 points on.”

Queensland legend Shane Webcke agreed Cherry-Evans is now fighting for his spot.

“There are some serious questions to be asked and one of them might be Daly Cherry-Evans,” Webcke told Triple M radio.

“I just feel like he’s at that point of his career and when you see him with Cameron Munster tonight, the magic wasn’t there and that worries me.

“I hate to suggest that about a bloke like Daly Cherry-Evans.

“I feel like at the end of the last series, we probably missed an opportunity with a bloke like him, he’s 36 years old, the opportunity was probably there to reinvent a bit.

“I think we might pay a price for not having done that.”

Johns called Grant’s performance the worst he has seen from the Storm dummyhalf.

“I thought Ponga and Munster, DCE and Harry, that was probably the worst game I’ve seen Harry play,” he said.

“Probably big decisions to be made by Billy. Where he does go? But look, no one beats Father Time and DCE what is he 37?

“I think at the moment. I think they pull the trigger and bring Dearden in. But I don’t know where the improvement comes with this group.

“So I think there has to be changes with Corey Horsburgh. One I think he can add something. Jai Arrow is an Origin player, but the big one is Dearden and whether they pull the trigger on Dearden.”

Cameron Smith agreed Queensland’s attack looked lacklustre.

“Well the way they’ve dominated the game, they’ve been in complete control really from the moment the ball was kicked off early,” Smith said.

“They’ve controlled field position. They controlled possession. Queensland had a bit of a run of it early in this second half, but they haven’t really threatened at all.”

Queensland five-eighth Cameron Munster admitted the spine was off their game.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” Munster said.

“We gave ourselves every chance. It’s just in ISO moments and a couple of times we just weren’t in sync.

“Defensively I thought our effort was there. We worked really hard for each other, but unfortunately when that happens and you don’t execute or complete sets, it puts a lot of pressure on you.”

The Maroons have scored just one try in their past two games, both at Suncorp Stadium, and Cherry-Evans knows he’s under pressure.

“With losing comes the question (if he’ll be dropped). We’ve opened ourselves up to these sorts of questions but I’d love the opportunity to come back and correct it,” Cherry-Evans said.

‘INCREDIBLY’ OMINOUS WARNING AS BLUES HALVES ANSWER BIG QUESTION

He is a four-time premiership winning halfback, a two-time Clive Churchill Medallist and was Dally M Halfback of the Year in both 2020 and 2021.

But the Origin arena is something Nathan Cleary has not conquered – yet.

If Nathan Cleary’s performance in Wednesday night’s series opener is anything to go by, however, the 27-year-old could be on the verge of his crowning moment in a Blues jersey.

Cleary was at his masterful best in the 18-6 win, playing a significant role in all four New South Wales’ tries as new halves partner Mitchell Moses took more of a back seat in attacking field position.

Whether it was fooling the Maroons defence as he shaped to go right before firing it left in the lead-up to Brian To’o’s try or a perfectly-executed double pump that opened up space for Zac Lomax’s second try, Cleary had the ball on a string.

Although, according to Maroons legend Darren Lockyer, the Blues’ attack really started to open up when Cleary took on the line.

Cleary ran the ball eight times for 62 metres and broke eight tackles in the process, proving particularly tough to take down later in the game as fatigue set in.

“I think tonight when New South Wales started to get on top, Nathan Cleary ran and when he ran, gaps appeared everywhere,” Lockyer said on Channel Nine.

“That’s where they got a few of their tries from.”

While Cleary’s kicking game was off at times, it helped that he had Moses to lean on too in that capacity.

There were questions entering the series as to how two dominant halfbacks would make it work but if Wednesday’s opening game was anything to go by, the Blues have nothing to worry about, especially considering the spotlight that will now be on the Maroons’ more experienced halves pairing.

Queensland lacked direction with Cameron Munster and Daly Cherry-Evans steering the ship, although they didn’t have much of a platform to work with given just two forwards (Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Patrick Carrigan) cracked 100 metres.

While New South Wales didn’t have to lean on Cleary and Moses’ kicking game too heavily given the go-forward they were getting from their back five, it is just another benefit to having the pair playing alongside each other and Andrew Johns was full of praise for the new-look halves on Channel Nine.

“I thought they were really good,” Johns said.

“They shared the kicking load really well.”

And in an ominous warning, Johns went on to claim that Cleary and Moses will be “improved sharply” in Game 2.

“They’ll improve incredibly,” he said.

“I thought they ran at the right time. A lot of run threat from both Moses and Nathan. I’ve got to say, at this level I haven’t seen Nathan Cleary run as much as he did, but overall I thought they were really good.”

HAAS DOMINATES IN MAN OF THE MATCH DISPLAY

Payne Haas had an injury cloud over him all week, but you wouldn’t have known as he produced a man-of-the-match display to power the blues to victory.

Haas finished with 140 metres, which was more than any player on the field apart from Blues wingers Brian To’o (200) and Zac Lomax (177).

The Blues enforcer also had three tackle busts, three offloads, and 29 tackles without a miss in a brilliant display on both sides of the ball to set the platform for a huge win in enemy territory.

Brad Fittler marvelled at Haas’ footwork and skill for a big man.

“He’s such a big man and he has that great little bit of footwork as he gets to the line,” Fittler said.

“You can see they desperate to get three and four players there to tackle him, but he just has that strength and that agility as a big man.

“Just to find a little shoulder and a little bit of space to get through and he just did it all night. Couple of beautiful offloads. He played big minutes.

“He was on the back of no training. What an effort. It’s just that consistency that you get with him too.”

Darren Lockyer noted Haas played wider on the edges and reaped the rewards.

“He’s one of the fittest players in the team,” Lockyer said.

“And the other thing he’s been doing, he’s getting wider early in the game tonight.

“He got out on the edges, made some good metres for his team. And then as the game wore on he got back into the middle.

“But as Isaah Yeo said he’s just he’s just so big and powerful. No matter what the teams think they can do to stop him, they just can’t.”

GUS’ SAVAGE MAROONS REALITY CHECK AND THE UGLY QLD STATISTICS

Rugby league supremo Phil Gould delivered a damning assessment when analysing Queensland’s disappointing performance in the series opener.

The star-studded spine of Daly Cherry-Evans, Cameron Munster, Kalyn Ponga and Harry Grant failed to deliver and Gould believes the Maroons will have “nightmares” in the lead-up to Game II.

Not only because they gave away a big advantage, losing on their home turf at Suncorp Stadium, but also because they were beaten so convincingly.

Speaking to NSW coach Laurie Daley post-match, he said his side have “achieved nothing”, pointing towards the bigger goal of winning the 2025 series.

However, Gould believes the Blues have delivered a huge mental blow to their opponents – and he isn’t sure the Maroons will be able to recover.

“I don’t think they’ve achieved nothing. I think what they’ve achieved is shattering Queensland. I think Queensland are really going to have some nightmares,” Gould said.

“I just don’t see any answers for them. I don’t see any answers in the selection room.

“The individual players on the team are going to have to play better, but in all the important parts of the game, they’re just outpointed tonight.

“I don’t know that they’ve got it in them to come back from that.”

Gould also pointed to the fact NSW didn’t kick a single conversion and still were “dominant” with further improvement to come according to one of rugby league’s sharpest minds.

“NSW were very dominant. The only thing that got Queensland back into it for a while was the sin bin,” Gould explained.

“They got a try during that period, but I thought NSW as well, they also played very conservatively. They were just happy to come here and grind out the win and get the job done.

“Four tries to one, Cleary couldn’t kick a conversion. It could have been very, very dominant and I think NSW can only get better from it.

“So where does that leave Queensland. Because they were off the pace tonight. They weren’t in the game. I’m struggling to see how they can improve it.”

Alongside Gould’s grim reality, a wave of statistics prove Queensland’s task to turn this series around is almost insurmountable.

NSW’s win snaps a three-game losing streak in series openers and it was just their second Game I win in the past seven Origin series.

It’s also the first time since 2005-06 that the Blues have won three straight games, continuing their momentum after a comeback series victory in 2024.

Since the introduction of a three-game series in 1982, the team that has won Game I has gone on to win the series on 31 occasions (from 43 series)

Meanwhile, 13 of NSW’s 17 series wins have come after winning Game I.

Ahead of Game II, both teams will also travel to Perth, a venue that NSW have traditionally found success in with two wins in two appearances.

The Blues won Perth 38-6 in 2019 and 44-12 in 2022.

Meanwhile, Queensland legend Cameron Smith also pointed to the Maroons’ lack of attacking threat, managing a single line break and only six points.

“The telling point for Queensland again tonight is we scored one try coming off Game III last year we didn’t score a single try,” Smith said.

“That’s given the potency in the attack. Now I know we didn’t have a lot of field position and that was due to, you know some poor discipline and some errors in the first half in particular.

“We just really didn’t give ourselves an opportunity.”

‘MIRACLE TAKE’ PROVES WHY LOMAX IS A GAME-CHANGER ON THE WING

The Maroons had a clear game plan early, not that it was anything surprising.

With Xavier Coates matched up against the much shorter Brian To’o, Queensland predictably targeted the Blues winger with plenty of success on Wednesday night.

In fact, they even got a desperate To’o to tackle Coates mid-air when he outleapt him for one kick in the dying stages of the first half.

But while Queensland had a distinct advantage on that side of the field, the same was true on the other for the Blues with Zac Lomax.

The 25-year-old could have easily been named man of the match ahead of Payne Haas after a standout game on the wing, finishing the series opener with 177 metres, two tries, four tackle busts and two linebreaks.

But it was Lomax’s work in the air that was most valuable for the Blues, as proven in what was described by Andrew Johns as a “miracle take” to set up the final try for New South Wales.

Lomax admitted at the start of Blues camp that wing is his “best position” in an interview with foxsports.com.au and Wednesday’s clinic was just further proof of it.

Meanwhile, as much as he was outpointed by Coates, To’o did what he does best with 200 metres, including 66 post-contact, to go with two tackle busts and a try in the win.

“He was great and we needed him to be,” Blues coach Laurie Daley said of Lomax.

“He and Brian, they did a fantastic job. They’re coming off limited games too. So they could have been underdone but they just pushed and made the Blues jersey proud.”

‘IT’D BE BURNING HIM’: CLEARY TO ATONE FOR HORROR GOAL-KICKING NIGHT

It was an uncharacteristically poor night from the kicking tee for Nathan Cleary, who had made 43 of 48 goals as a Blues player before Wednesday.

But in the series opener Cleary just couldn’t get the ball between the sticks outside of one penalty goal from right in front, finishing the day one from four.

Cleary was hooked late in the game for Zac Lomax, who also badly missed his one attempt, but it sounds like the Blues halfback will get a chance to redeem himself in Game 2.

“A good day to have off,” coach Laurie Daley said post-game.

“I don’t know Nathan that well because I haven’t worked with him but just to see the way that he prepares, I know it’d be burning him and I know that he won’t be like that again so he’ll do whatever it takes.”