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Sport Nation
“Dominant” Origin win was only 60% of NSW’s potential
Nicholas Quinlan • May 29th, 2025 9:28 am
SEN’s Greg Alexander and Andrew Voss thought that New South Wales were far too good against Queensland in Game I of the State of Origin series.
For the first time since 1997/98, the Blues have won back-to-back games at Suncorp Stadium with an 18-6 victory over the Maroons on Wednesday night to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Throughout the game, NSW would win the territory game by breaking tackles and lines which put them in attacking positions.
Queensland did not help themselves in trying to prevent NSW’s run game as they missed 49 tackles throughout the match compared to NSW’s 19.
Alexander thought that NSW’s first set of the match which contained three tackle breaks from the Maroons would prove to be an early sign of what the rest of the game would be like.
“I thought NSW were dominant right from the kick-off,” Alexander noted on SEN 1170’s Breakfast.
“NSW got the ball from the kick-off, there was three tackle breaks in that first set, in that first set of six where you would think that Queensland would be flying off the line and the collisions would be huge.
“NSW through Lomax, through Haas, through Edwards; they broke tackles in the first set of the game and got the ball to the 50.
“So, I thought that was a great start, and the dominance, I don’t think ever really finished.
“If Nathan Cleary was more on target with his kicking, it could have been 20-nil at half-time and the game would have been over.
“Brian To’o sent to the sin bin, that evened things up and made things hard for the Blues in defence.
“But to be honest, Queensland just weren’t good enough.”
Co-host Voss would agree with Alexander, believing that the Blues were capable of a greater performance than what they showed.
“I thought NSW weren’t that good,” Voss said.
“In terms of potential, I reckon they were at 60 per cent of their potential.
“If NSW goes really well, let’s say Melbourne-esque from last year, Game II-esque; they win by 40 last night.
“That could have been the difference between the teams.”
NSW and Queensland will head west for Game II of the State of Origin series. They’ll play each other on the 18th of May at Optus Stadium.
A win for NSW would see them retain the shield for the second year in a row while a Queensland win would create a Game III decider.
