It took one of Queensland's legendary State of Origin comebacks to settle the opening match of the 2011 series, as Billy Slater's late try lifted the Maroons to a thrilling 16-12 win over New South Wales at Lang Park.

The combinations forged in five consecutive series victories - and in the Australian Test side - ultimately came to the fore as Slater, Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston and Cam Smith dragged Queensland to victory.

The Maroons dominated possession and looked the more dangerous of the sides for the first hour, but skill errors in strong field position robbed them of the opportunity to lead by more than 10 points with 15 minutes remaining.

That left the door ajar for a New South Wales fight-back and the Blues duly obliged with tries from Mitchell Pearce and Michael Jennings in the space of four minutes giving the visitors a shock 12-10 lead with just over 10 minutes left.

But as the saying goes Queensland can never be written off - and so it proved as Slater scored the match winner in the 72nd minute when he found a familiar inside ball from Lockyer.

It was a fitting contribution from Maroons skipper Lockyer, who equalled Allan Langer's record of 34 Origin appearances on the night in front of 52,144 fans.

"Lockyer just whispered to me, because he can't yell too loud anymore, stay inside me and I knew where to be," Slater told ABC Grandstand of the 10th try in his glittering Origin career.

"The hole opened up and I was lucky to get over the line."

The Maroons successfully negotiated the nervous closing stages to set up a 1-0 lead in their bid for an incredible sixth consecutive series win, with the Blues left to contemplate how they can fight back at the Olympic stadium in Game II.

"The boys have those great combinations that have been built over the last five seasons and hopefully it can continue for the next two games at least," veteran forward Petero Civoniceva said.

Thurston opened the scoring when he touched down on Smith's clever grubber in the fifth minute, and some staunch Blues defence shut out Queensland for the remainder of the first half.

But a lapse in judgment gave debutant Jharal Yow Yeh his first taste of the Origin tryline six minutes into the second half when the powerful Broncos winger pounced on some poor judgement by opposite number Brett Morris.

Thurston missed a crucial penalty from right in front on the hour mark that would have put Queensland out by two converted tries, and NSW made the most of its reprieve as Pearce and Jennings raced in to score.

At 12-10 the new-look Blues, boasting five debutants, were poised to spring a major upset before Lockyer took control with his sublime pass to Slater.

"I looked up at the clock when they scored their second try. There was 10 minutes to go and I knew if we got some field position we would get a chance," Slater added.

"It was a great team effort by the boys, just hanging in there."

Queensland's playmakers and outside backs would take the credit but it was the rolling forward momentum, laid chiefly by the bone-crushing runs of Cowboys prop Matt Scott, that gave them room to work with.

New South Wales by contrast struggled to break into the Queensland half without the aid of handling errors and penalties, and perhaps Stuart will look to freshen up a lacklustre forward pack.

Greg Bird was the exception - he ran hard into half-gaps and off-loaded the ball well to his support players - while skipper Paul Gallen provided a key link in the movement that led to Dugan putting Jennings into space for the second try.

"We stop playing for a minute and they win the game," Gallen told Grandstand.

"We know we can well and truly compete with them. We just have to play for 80 minutes next time."

Debutant Maroons centre Dane Nielsen was singled out for praise by Slater, who lauded the defensive efforts of his Storm team-mate, while Darius Boyd made a target of clubmate Mark Gasnier with a couple of jarring ball-and-all tackles.

Dugan and Akuila Uate also performed strongly on debut for the Blues, but it was a quiet night for Dragons five-eighth Jamie Soward as Pearce shouldered most of the kicking responsibilities.

Stuart was installed as the Blues' first full-time coach in a ploy to end Queensland's domination of the interstate rivalry under Mal Meninga's stewardship.

NSW last won an Origin series in 2005, when Stuart was in his first stint as Blues coach.

QLD: 16 (J Thurston, J Yow Yeh, B Slater tries; Thurston 2/3 conversions)

NSW: 12 (M Pearce, M Jennings tries; J Soward 2/2 conversions)