State of Origin 2016: Queensland wins game one | photos

►GAME ONE:  How it panned out

New faces, but it was the same old sorry story for NSW.

Good, yes. But once again, not good enough.

They showed plenty of promise, but as they have so often during the past decade, failed to deliver on it.

It was an old-fashioned slog that ended in more NSW misery, with a Johnathan Thurston penalty goal the only difference between the two teams at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night.

Too old, too slow, apparently. Out of form and out of luck, they said. But somehow the Queensland juggernaut keeps rolling on, holding on for a 6-4 victory heading into game two in Brisbane.

The nightmare of game three had been replaying over and over inside the head of Blues coach Laurie Daley, who has been waiting almost 11 months for a shot at redemption.

So painful was yet another series loss to handle, Daley didn't leave his house for three weeks.

While the 52-6 loss at Suncorp Stadium sealed their fate last year, the players all knew they squandered their chance of winning back-to-back series in game one.

It was in the corresponding game at the very same venue, a Cooper Cronk field goal in the dying minutes laying the foundation for another Queensland series triumph.

So here they were again: game one in their own backyard with a chance to take the ascendancy into Suncorp Stadium.

It was out with the old and in with the new, as Daley discarded veterans Beau Scott and Ryan Hoffman for some fresh faces.

Four to be exact: premiership winners Adam Reynolds and Dylan Walker, Kangaroos representative Josh Mansour and fullback Matt Moylan, who has been in and around the Test team since making his debut in 2013.

The Penrith No.1 didn't enjoy the happiest of debuts, letting a ball bounce that led to a dropout in the first half before coughing up the pill trying to defuse a bomb early in the second period.

It didn't take long for Nate Myles to show why he was picked despite an ineffective start to the season for Manly, burrowing over an unaware Blues skipper Paul Gallen from the kick-off.

The Blues did well to withstand a Queensland onslaught in the opening passages of the game, with the visitors showing the ultimate sign of respect, opting to take a penalty goal on offer for a 2-0 lead after James Maloney was pinged for holding down in the ruck.

The possession then swung in favour of NSW and after multiple sets attacking the Maroons line, Boyd Cordner ran off the shoulder of ex-Roosters teammate Maloney to pick up the first try of the night.

NSW dominated the latter stages of the first half, however, against the run of play, Queensland managed to nab a 6-4 lead on the stroke of half-time when Dane Gagai finished off some silky lead-up work from Darius Boyd.

The Blues weren't happy when the referees decided to stop play after Justin O'Neill looked as though he'd picked up a head knock trying to tackle Mansour, with Gallen furious as he argued saying: "He's got to go mate, you can't stop the game".

The Maroons lost super-sub Michael Morgan to concussion midway through the second half, feeling the wrath of a barnstorming David Klemmer.

Andrew Fifita made an enormous impact when he finally came on for Gallen, but his brilliant work was undone when a loose offload was coughed up by Maloney to hand the Maroons the ball and strong field position.

But once again the Blues withstood the Queensland onslaught and looked to have taken the lead when Josh Morris appeared to have crossed in the corner, only for the bunker to overturn the decision to deny NSW.

A minute later the bunker then intervened to controversially overturn a decision during the run of play, awarding Queensland the ball when it looked like the Blues would have a scrum 10 metres out from the opposition line.

With the game in the balance, Walker made his way on to the paddock with just over nine minutes remaining.

But in a bid to milk a penalty for his side in the dying minutes, Walker went a bit too far and placed the ball on the hand of Cameron Smith, ending his side's hopes of a last ditch miracle.