Game 1 of the 2025 State of Origin series has been run and won by the New South Wales Blues, with prop forward Payne Haas being named man of the match.
Despite Zac Lomax seemingly being the best on ground for the Blues, with two tries and a heavy hand in a third while he also was near the top of the metre charts, and the halves of Mitchell Moses and Nathan Cleary both having strong games in the performance, Haas was handed the medal for his performance in setting the Blues up.
New South Wales dominated the middle third throughout the game, and Haas played a big role in that, not for the first time in his Origin career.
By the time it was all said and done, the game's best prop had 154 metres from 18 carries to his name, and was a menace with the ball in hand, adding five tackle busts and a hat-trick of offloads, while he also had 30 tackles with out a miss.
Haas was part of a forward pack who rolled the Maroons, with Mitchell Barnett, Angus Crichton, Isaah Yeo, and Max King also all cracking the 100-metre barrier.
