Bluewash in votes as Lomax stars: Zero Tackle’s State of Origin MVP, Game 1

The New South Wales Blues have dominated the opening game of the 2025 State of Origin series, taking a convincing win over the Queensland Maroons in Brisbane to put themselves in the box seat to claim the series for a second year in a row.

The story is no different in Zero Tackle's State of Origin MVP, where New South Wales players claimed every vote available.

While Payne Haas was named the man of the match on field, he only took top honours for one of our judges, while Zac Lomax was rated as best by the other three.

Lomax has the early lead, with Haas in close pursuit, while another six Blues players rated in the top five by at least one judge.

For each game in this State of Origin series, our panel - consisting of Matt Clements (Zero Tackle founders), Ethan Lee Chalk and Dan Nichols (Zero Tackle writers) and myself, will cast votes on a 5-4-3-2-1 system to determine the State of Origin MVP.

Here are the votes as they were awarded by our panel in Game 1.

Matt Clements

5 votes: Zac Lomax (NSW)
4 votes: Nathan Cleary (NSW)
3 votes: Payne Haas (NSW)
2 votes: Brian To'o (NSW)
1 vote: Dylan Edwards (NSW)

Ethan Lee Chalk

5 votes: Zac Lomax (NSW)
4 votes: Nathan Cleary (NSW)
3 votes: Payne Haas (NSW)
2 votes: Brian To'o (NSW)
1 vote: Isaah Yeo (NSW)

Dan Nichols

5 votes: Payne Haas (NSW)
4 votes: Zac Lomax (NSW)
3 votes: Isaah Yeo (NSW)
2 votes: Angus Crichton (NSW)
1 vote: Stephen Crichton (NSW)

Scott Pryde

5 votes: Zac Lomax (NSW)
4 votes: Payne Haas (NSW)
3 votes: Brian To'o (NSW)
2 votes: Isaah Yeo (NSW)
1 vote: Angus Crichton (NSW)

Full Zero Tackle NRL MVP leaderboard after Game 1, 2025 State of Origin series

1. Zac Lomax (NSW) - 19 votes
2. Payne Haas (NSW) - 15 votes
3. Nathan Cleary (NSW) - 8 votes
4. Brian To'o (NSW) - 7 votes
5. Isaah Yeo (NSW) - 6 votes
6. Angus Crichton (NSW) - 3 votes
= 7. Dylan Edwards (NSW) - 1 vote
= 7. Stephen Crichton (NSW) - 1 vote