The captaincy trend Cameron Munster must overcome for Queensland to save Origin series

Of Queensland's 15 State of Origin captains, only seven have won their first game in charge.

Melbourne Storm star five-eighth Cameron Munster, as if not under enough pressure already with a new halves partner, will enter Game 2 of this year's series as Queensland's 16th captain.

Playing alongside Tom Dearden in a starting halves combination for the first time, Munster will be Queensland's first new captain since Daly Cherry-Evans originally took the gig in Game 1 of the 2019 series.

That is 19 Origin matches under the leadership of Cherry-Evans, only for it to be blown up mid series with Queensland scoring just a single try in their last 160 minutes of Origin football - and that coming against a 12-man Blues.

But for Munster, the challenge will run far deeper than getting his footy side to score points.

He needs to overcome a trend that is alarming from a Queensland point of view.

While 7 out of 15 doesn't seem an overly horrific record, it is when you look more specifically at games played outside of Brisbane.

Queensland captains debuting anywhere that isn't Lang Park have won just two of their nine games.

The captains in question?

Paul Vautin in 1988, and Trevor Gillmeister in 1995.

Granted, Perth is not Sydney, but it might as well be. New South Wales have never lost in Western Australia, and as the below indicates, Queensland captains simply struggle in their first game in charge if it's not being played at the famous old Lang Park.

There are some famous names on that list who have had to captain their first game away from Brisbane and run into problems.

Mal Meninga between Vautin and Gillmeister, but then, Allan Langer, Kevin Walters, Darren Lockyer, Shane Webcke, the legendary Cameron Smith, and Greg Inglis, who actually captained his first game in Melbourne.

When Billy Slater and Daly Cherry-Evans became Queensland captain 14 and 15 respectively, they were dealt with the good fortune of kicking their leadership journeys off at the Cauldron, and made the Blues pay.

Now Munster comes into Game 2 of this year's series in a must-win position, with a misfiring, out-gunned side and a coach under as much pressure as he has been at any point in his journey in charge of Queensland.

The stats, the most recent Origin games, and the fact Craig Bellamy is in the opposition coaches box all count against Munster.

He might just pull a rabbit out of the hat to keep the 2025 State of Origin series alive, but the numbers, and the facts, look damning against Queensland, and if the writing was on the wall, you'd have to suggest it reads 'save a whitewash in Sydney'.