Sam Walker has been praised for his debut for the Queensland Maroons on Wednesday night, with the Sydney Roosters halfback easily one of the best on-field.
Walker made a fantastic start to his State of Origin career, laying on the first try of the game for Robert Toia, before he was involved in sending Thomas Flegler through under the posts for the second.
Walker was dangerous with both short and long-range kicking, and didn't have too many off moments in a fantastic performance at Accor Stadium as the Maroons built a 20-point lead during the opening 20 minutes, only to squander it once fullback Kalyn Ponga had been sent off.
The Roosters halfback has long been touted as Queensland's long-term halfback; however, he must have been wondering what was left of his Origin career after Thomas Dearden's efforts in Games 2 and 3 of last year's series, replacing the dumped Daly Cherry-Evans.
But Walker earned his call-up with Dearden injured at the start of this year's series, and coach Billy Slater said he was looking forward to Walker having more opportunities.
"I thought he was great. The longer the week went on, the more confident I was he'd play like that. He is a clever little player, he is tough, he dives into all the team things, but then he brings his game, unlocks players, and we saw that tonight.
"I'm looking forward to him getting more opportunities and playing some more footy at this level," Slater said during his post-match press conference.
Maroons captain Cameron Munster was also full of praise for Walker, suggesting it was actually on the rest of the playing group for letting him down after the red-hot start, with Queensland seemingly putting the queue in the rack.
"I thought he was unreal for us. He had a hand in a couple of tries, putting Fleg [Thomas Flegler] away and a nice little kick for Bobby [Robert Toia]," Munster said.
"Sammy was good in that first half, but unfortunately, we didn't help him. We just tried to protect our lead instead of playing a bit of footy.
"When you have 12 men, it takes a bit of gas out of you. New South Wales shifted the ball a fair bit, and a couple of times Kotoni [Staggs] was one-on-one with Capes [Kurt Capewell], and he isn't usually a centre. At the end of the day, that's footy.
"It went down to the wire, a minute and 30 left, and Tedesco ended up doing something freaky."
Walker will likely be picked again for Game 2 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in what is now a must-win clash for the Maroons.
They will likely have Dearden available for selection as competition for the Roosters halfback when it comes time for Slater to pick his team for a potential decider back at home.
