The best time of the year for footy fans is less than a week away as the NSW Blues and the Queensland Maroons prepare to go head-to-head in game one of the 2025 State of Origin series on Wednesday.
The first battle of the 44th best-of-three series will be played at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium between the two rivals as the Queenslanders look to win their 25th series while the Blues eye their 18th.
NSW are looking to win back-to-back series for the first time since 2019 after they were victorious in 2024 to end a two-year Queensland run.
The Maroons took game one of last year’s series comfortably as they ran away to a 38-10 victory following the sending-off of Joseph Sua’ali’I in the eighth minute at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
The Blues bounced back in emphatic fashion in game two at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as they made history by scoring the most points in a half of State of Origin football. They took a dominant 34-0 lead into the break after crossing for six tries in the first 40 minutes, before the Maroons scored 18 points in the second half. NSW prevailed 38-18.
Game three was then held at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, where the two sides battled out the most competitive game of the series as NSW won 14-4.
They will now return to enemy territory with a new coach, a new captain and a new halfback as they look to get on the front foot in their pursuit of retaining the shield.
Laurie Daley returns to the NSW coaching role following a seven-year absence after he was in charge of the Blues from 2013 to 2017. He won six matches and lost nine in those five years, and he celebrated a single series victory in 2014. It was a significant one as the Blues ended Queensland’s eight-year streak of Origin victories.
Daley stepped into the role that was left vacant by 2024 series-winning coach Michael Maguire after he moved on to take the Brisbane Broncos’ head coaching role in the NRL.
Queensland will be coached by Origin legend Billy Slater for the fourth series in a row. The champion fullback, who played 31 games for his state and won eight series, took over the coaching role in 2022 and won his first two series before tasting defeat for the first time last year. He has won five matches and lost four in his nine games as a coach.
The two sides were announced earlier this week, and as usual there has been plenty of debate about several inclusions and omissions made by the two coaches.
NSW’s captain and prop Jake Trbojevic has been left out of the side after suffering a concussion while playing for Manly against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday night.
Taking over as skipper is Isaah Yeo, who came off the bench last year but starts in a lock position left vacant by the injured Cameron Murray.
The big omission from last year’s team is five-eighth Jarome Luai, who formed a series-winning combination with Mitch Moses in 2024. Champion halfback Nathan Cleary missed that series with a hamstring injury and will return on Wednesday night to take back the number seven jersey, which will see Moses shift from halfback into number six.
Another key inclusion alongside Cleary is Latrell Mitchell. The explosive South Sydney fullback and NSW left centre missed the third game through injury in 2024 but is back to take the place of the injured Bradman Best.
Stephen Chrichton was named at right centre and Dylan Edwards at fullback, meaning there was no room for Manly fullback Tom Trbojevic.
Another huge omission was that of Terell May. The Wests Tigers prop is yet to debut for the Blues and was expected to by many this year given his superb club form, but Daley opted to go with Payne Haas and Mitchell Barnett as his starting props, Spencer Leniu and Max King on the interchange bench, and Stefano Utoikamanu in the extended squad.
Campbell Graham is the Blues’ 18th man.
For Queensland, there are also several changes from their game three team, headlined by Kalyn Ponga at fullback for the injured Reece Walsh.
Xavier Coates replaces Selwyn Cobbo on the wing, debutant Robert Toia replaces Dane Gagai in the centres, and Cameron Munster returns at five-eighth, pushing Tom Dearden to the bench as the injured number 14 Ben Hunt misses out.
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui makes his return at prop this year after missing last series through injury, while Jeremiah Nanai starts in the back row in place of Kurt Capewell.
Lindsay Collins is the one player from Queensland’s 2024 game three bench to retain his interchange spot. He will be joined by Dearden, Beau Fermor and Trent Loiero, with Kurt Mann the 18th man.
The Courier’s game one tip:
NSW Blues to beat Queensland Maroons by 16 points. Man of the match – Latrell Mitchell.
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