The State of Origin series is built on incredible moments, epic comebacks, and breathtaking drama. The 2026 opener delivered one such fightback, but it still sits well down the list of Origin's greatest comebacks.
James Tedesco soaring high over Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to seal the 22-20 win at Accor Stadium after the Blues were down 20-0 will feature on plenty of highlight reels this week. The fact that Nathan Cleary, the Penrith great yet to conquer Origin, kicked the ball that led to the try adds to the narrative.
New South Wales deserves credit. They had to pick up their bottom lips, pull up their socks, and mow down those 20 points. The fact that referee Ashley Klein sent Queensland fullback Kalyn Ponga off the field for a high shot on Manly speedster Tolu Koula in the 57th minute certainly helped. But then again, Queensland seems to have a knack for surviving those kinds of backs-to-the-wall challenges.
NSW stole the match in the dying seconds when James Tedesco latched onto a Nathan Cleary bomb. Queensland had raced out to a 20-point lead until it all unravelled when Kalyn Ponga was sent off. Darren Lockyer blew up about it, but Maroons coach Billy Slater said he didn't have a problem with it. "It happens, it's footy."
While the wounds are raw, the Ponga call will dominate water cooler conversations this week. But will it be talked about in years to come? Doubtful. Because while the scoreboard pressure made for a thrilling finish that fit the script of an Origin epic, the quality of footy that preceded it did not. And therein lies the rub.
The standard and quality just wasn't there. Not even Gus Gould was impressed by the result, saying it masked some shocking defensive lapses from both sides and that both coaches had made mistakes when picking their final teams. "In the end it's come down to a Hail Mary kick with 60 seconds to go and James Tedesco has raced through and caught the ball," he said. "It's drama at its absolute best, but I think both teams have got a lot to learn, not only out of that game, but in the selection room, about the teams they put out there tonight, and what they can and can't handle in Origin football."
Blues great Brad Fittler echoed that sentiment, saying that Laurie Daley would not be resting on his laurels and that the right team had to be picked if the Blues wanted to have any hope of winning game two in Melbourne. There were 19 errors in the wet at Accor Stadium as both teams struggled with the fundamentals. NSW star Brian To'o had an uncharacteristic three dropped balls in the first half alone. Former NSW coach Phil Gould was not impressed with the standard of footy from either side.
"They need to sort out the 25 minutes where they were behind. We were well behind, and it didn't look like getting that much better," he said. "I think we've got to look at our starting team ... there's a few things the coach has to look at and make some changes. Because to be honest, we weren't in the game in the first 25 minutes."
When we think of the true Origin classics, the truly great comebacks, we don't think of the fumbling, bumbling football that preceded it. Nor a contentious referee decision that made the result possible. The great Mark Coyne 'that's not a try, that's a miracle' was built on the Queensland spirit of never, ever giving up.
Now go back to 1981, in the infancy of Origin. Queensland won the decider after overrunning a 15-0 deficit. That match was well known for the fact that Artie Beetson, the great Queensland icon, faked an injury to stand down from the Maroons and have a young Wally Lewis installed in his place as captain. A huge decision that took incredible bravery. But it paid off.
A Hail Mary kick does not mask the fact that neither side could complete their sets above 80 per cent. And you can't blame the conditions; play to those conditions instead of pushing passes and playing hot potato football. You can't watch a game that had a collective 73 missed tackles and call it the greatest of all time. You can't watch 19 errors being committed from players whose minds are not firmly on the job and say it is the best comeback of all time. And you can't honestly look at the sides put on the field and say they were the best each state had to offer.
The 20-point comeback was not iconic; it was a warning. To both sides. That they need to get the selections right for the rest of the series and tighten up the leaky ships. Then maybe we can talk about truly great Origin comebacks.
