A tense opening to the 2025 State of Origin series has seen the New South Wales Blues take a commanding lead into the halftime break at Suncorp Stadium.

The Blues had most of the running early, but couldn't find an early try, with the Maroons holding on gallantly and firing a shot or two of their own.

Discipline and errors cost the Maroons dearly though through the first half, with a penalty goal for Nathan Cleary getting the scoring underway, before the Blues would run on three tries in the final 16 minutes of the first half.

ยป See match scores and stats in our match centre
ยป See live commentary with our match blog

The three tries came on the back of the Blues dominating possession and territory, with Nathan Cleary putting on a masterclass, and the forwards dominating proceedings.

The first try came down the right-hand side to Zac Lomax off a lovely set up from Stephen Crichton. It was a long-range effort that had originally started on the left-hand side of the park.

The Blues were then over again just five minutes later off a costly error from Harry Grant on halfway, with the Blues receiving a six again and then scoring through the left-hand side. This time it was Brian To'o crossing off a lovely last pass from Latrell Mitchell.

The Maroons continued to fight against the tide to stay in the game, but it was Zac Lomax who scored again just three minutes from halftime. Awful discipline from the Maroons allowed the Blues to have a run of possession, and it was Dylan Edwards who threw the final ball for Cleary to cross.

A late moment of controversy could breathe some life back into the Maroons though, with Xavier Coates taken out by Brian To'o in the air on the final play of the half.

The Penrith winger was sent to the sin bin and will start the second 40 minutes there, with the Maroons slotting a penalty goal on the siren to get on the board and cut the gap to 12.

The lead should have been more though, with Nathan Cleary missing all three conversion attempts during the first half.

Match summary:
Queensland Maroons 2 (Tries: Nil; Conversions: Nil; Penalty Goals: Valentine Holmes 1/1) trail New South Wales Blues 14 (Tries: Zac Lomax [2], Brian To'o; Conversions: Nathan Cleary 0/3; Penalty Goals: Nathan Cleary 1/1)