Game one in Sydney went the way of Queensland and the task ahead of New South Wales has only got more difficult as they've got to head up to Brisbane, to Suncorp, and beat a confident Queensland side. Not ideal for NSW but there were definitely a few good signs that Laurie Daley and his Blues gang can build on, that and really nailing a strong game plan.

The two new faces in NSW's outside back group both played starring roles while their more experienced comrade Josh Morris stumbled. If anyone doubts Matt Moylan's toughness then you've clearly not watched him play a whole lot, you haven't seen him steam into a Queensland defensive line at full pace in an Origin cauldron. While we didn't really get to see Moylan flex his play-making muscles, Moylan was strong with the footy tucked under his wing, running for 143m off 18 carries.

Moylan's Penrith homie Josh Mansour also proved his credentials, running for 115m off 15 carries and these two combined for 9 tackle busts (9/24). Both are dynamic with the footy, they ooze x-factor and you always felt like they could make something happen with teeny-weeny bit of space.

A late call up after Josh Dugan was ruled out, Morris came up with two sloppy handling errors as well as the least production of any outside back in this game. Morris only had 9 carries for 60m, he deserved his selection for sure as he hasn't let his state down but this kinda points to NSW's weakness at the moment and in the past as they've consistently tried to match Queensland's ability to grind, worrying about picking a centre who can do a defensive job against Greg Inglis instead of thinking about points.

Jennings screams points, as does Dugan and unfortunately Dugan was ruled out. I'm not convinced that there was a better centre than Morris to replace Dugan on late notice, but Morris and NSW simply lacked enough attacking spark to really trouble Queensland. This was also evident in the weird use of Dylan Walker after I had thought that in selecting Walker, Daley had shown greater willingness to go down the attacking pathway.

Walker played 9 minutes, he had 2 touches, 1 run for 4m and instead of providing much attacking impetus, he made 10 tackles. Compare that to Queensland's utility Michael Morgan, who had his minutes cut short by concussion but still managed 20 minutes, 3 touches, 2 runs, 20m and a tackle bust. Morgan came on in the first half and was given a long stint on the field, along with pretty good involvement given the playmakers around him.

Kevin Walters had full confidence in Morgan and how he could impact the game while Daley kept Walker on the bench. Daley obviously had full confidence in Walker and what he could do, but the proof is in the pudding/minutes and you'd have to assume that Walker would only have been a factor if he's given 10-15 minutes in either half.

Queensland's try came in the 37th minute, with Morgan on the field. Morgan had no direct on the play, but his presence certainly helped as he lined up left of the ruck alongside Greg Inglis. This allowed both Cooper Cronk and Jonathan Thurston to play on the right, Cronk shovels the ball onto Thurston and there's no pressure, so run the footy!

This certainly looked planned, with Queensland putting Mansour under pressure in his debut; last tackle, the debutant will drop back for a kick, let's go. Everyone played their role perfectly and while NSW fumbled and stumbled through attacking moves, this one was executed with precision, clinical execution that comes with the game's best players. Morgan didn't do much, but he was there and his presence pushed the two best halves in the world to one side of the ruck, where they could combine. Morgan was there, Walker was on the bench.

I'm always intrigued by the split in kicking duties between either half and while there's certain teams, in certain situations that rely solely on one bloke to do the majority of their kicking and do it well, usually it doesn't quite work. We heard a lot about Adam Reynolds' kicking game leading into this game and he kicked 17 times, while James Maloney kicked just 2 times.

Compare that to Thurston's 10 kicks and Cronk's 13 kicks and we've got opposite ends of the spectrum don't we? Throw in that Reynolds and Maloney often found Boyd on the full and that Thurston/Cronk found the turf, keeping NSW coming out from deep in their own half. They even split in kicking duties means that NSW have to put pressure on both Cronk and Thurston, which is hard to do while Queensland could load up on Reynolds. That gave Cronk and Thurston that little bit of extra time to work their magic, you can't allow that.

It's hard not to feel like this was a 'same old' sort of display from NSW, even if their new lads stood up and showcased their Origin ability. Queensland love the grind because they have the best playmakers in the game, enabling them to take opportunities when they are presented. NSW once again got in the grind with Queensland and didn't fire many shots. You'd have to hope that with nothing to lose up in Brisbane, that NSW will switch their style up.