Longing for the day ...

I got the Blues ...

Well done, NSW. You did enough to win the match at home. But the young Maroons can take a lot out of what they experienced.

I was really a classic game of youth vs experience. The Maroons came out at a million miles and hour - something lacking in games in Sydney recently - and were winning the armwrestle and putting enormous pressue on NSW. However, when the Blues scored first, against the run of play, off a mistake that could have led to a Qld score, the youngsters lost their way for a while. The Blues were 14-0 up and should have been further in front.

They looked a little rusty and nervous early on but the Qld resolve ran deep, and the Blues never crossed the Qld line after the 21st minute. Qld fought back to level with a couple of minutes to go. Brilliantly, NSW chose that moment to lift and made enugh ground in their first set to score the winner.

The youngster will have learned a lot about what it takes to win these games. Flashes of brilliance are not enough. Every mistake is punished and must be made up for. You can't get down and lose concentration even for a moment in Origin.

The confidence they will gain from their fightback will grow them immeasurably ... Bring on the second game at Lang Park!