A Dane Gagai double has led Queensland to a come-from-behind 18-14 State of Origin victory over New South Wales in Game I at Lang Park.

Key points: New South Wales led 8-0 at half time, but faded in the second half

New South Wales led 8-0 at half time, but faded in the second half Queensland had three tries ruled out by the video referee

Queensland had three tries ruled out by the video referee Latrell Mitchell was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul on Matt Gillett

Queensland was trailing 8-0 at the break after Josh Morris scored on his return to the Origin scene, adding to Nathan Cleary's opening penalty.

But the Maroons, who had two tries ruled out in the first half and frequently exposed the Blues defensively, hit back in the second half to notch up a dramatic victory in front of 52,191 fans.

The Maroons were having some success attacking the New South Wales left edge, but it was down the right where Queensland finally broke their duck.

Felise Kaufusi laid off a short pass to Kalyn Ponga, who fired a bullet towards Corey Oates, with the winger then flying through the air to place down in the corner.

Josh Morris scored the first try of the match but the Reds fought back in the second half. ( AAP: Glenn Hunt )

Queensland fans were left screaming for a penalty try just before the hour mark when Matt Gillett was tackled without the ball by Latrell Mitchell with the line at his mercy, but the presence of James Tedesco cast just enough doubt into the mind of the video referee, who awarded no try.

Instead, Mitchell, who had been largely ineffective in the preceding 57 minutes, was sent to the sin bin and Queensland took the two points to level the score.

"It's amazing, [in the] last four games we've had three sin bins," Blues coach Brad Fittler told Channel Nine after the match.

"The blokes have had to work very hard."

It looked as though NSW was going to be able to ride the 10 minutes with a man down, but Gagai stunned the Blues with a 98-metre intercept after a poor pass from Jack Wighton to give the Queenslanders the lead for the first time.

Gagai — who ran for 270 metres in an astonishing display — scored his second just two minutes later, the returned Mitchell powerless to intercede thanks to another bullet pass from Ponga.

NSW hit straight back through Jake Trbojevic to set up a nervous final five minutes, but Queensland hung on to secure victory.

"We started to play a bit late which is a bit of shame," Fittler said.

"There's enough skill in the team and I wish we had more trust [that] we could have played a bit more footy earlier, instead of when the game was actually on the line and we were behind."

Qld butchers first-half opportunities

Corey Oates saw this effort ruled out, but made no mistake next time around. ( AAP: Darren England )

Although the match was close, Queensland could have been much further ahead, after having two tries disallowed in the first half and butchering a number of other opportunities to go in scoreless at the break.

Oates saw a potential opener ruled out after the Broncos winger put a foot on the line before acrobatically touching down.

Then, after a lengthy review, Dylan Napa saw his effort chalked off after he was adjudged not to have put the ball down cleanly with his forearm.

"Origin points and tries are certainly very hard to come by," said Maroons coach Kevin Walters, who admitted to some frustration about the missed opportunities from his side in the first half.

"That's all learning for them. I thought the resilience they showed in the second half to be 8-0 down and come back was very pleasing.

"We need to get better. Better with our starts. I thought we didn't quite match the power of NSW early."

Tedesco was sensational in the first half for the Blues, setting up one try and saving another, improbably chasing back to deny Will Chambers when the winger had the try line at his mercy.

Morris scored the opening try of the game, but all the running came from Tedesco, who slipped past Maroons five-eighth Cameron Munster and offloaded to the rampaging Morris, who slammed over the try line.

"We did a good job holding them out for a long time," Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans said after the match.

"The boys are saying they've got two of the best strike players in the competition. It was inevitable they were going to make an impact in the game. [In the] second half we really limited that."

Despite struggling with Damien Cook and Tedesco in the first half, Queensland firmed up the defence in the second, setting up an enthralling second match in Perth.

Relive all the action as it happened in our live blog.