New South Wales Blues halfback Nathan Cleary has claimed man of the match honours in Game 1 of the 2026 State of Origin series.
The star Penrith Panthers halfback might have been short of his best during the first hour of the game, but drove the Blues into a comeback after Kalyn Ponga was sent off in the final 20 minutes.
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Cleary, who led the kicking game and stepped it up against 12 men, kicked a 40/20 to turn the game with around ten minutes to go, then scored the second of three tries in the comeback.
Cleary finished the game with 74 metres from 11 runs, 2 try assists, 2 tackle breaks, a try, a 40/20, an offload and 12 tackles, while he also kicked for 666 metres from 21 efforts with no errors.
