78th min Right it's now or never for NSW. They have the ball - five metres out from their line. 90m to go. Can they do it? 77th min The Maroons are lining up at the moment. Scott has been immense in the past 15 minutes. Soward forced dead now and Qld will retain possesion. That's clinical stuff and the 52,144 punters appreciate that. 75th min Suddenly the second-phase ball starting for Qld as the Blues rush to force a mistake. It doesn't arrive and they are running it out from their 20m line. I'm on the edge of my seat here. True, the seats are very small but you get the picture. 72nd min TRY Qld! It's Billy Slater and Lockyer masterminds that beautifully. Slater sprinted from about 2km for that inside ball. NSW could see it coming but had no ammo left to mow him down. The crowd is in raptures now. All started with a big, big charge from Matt Scott. Qld back in front 16-12. 70th min He does indeed and the Blues lead 12-10 with 10 minutes on the clock. Time for Qld to show what's left in the tank.

69th min TRY NSW! It's Jennings and this time he makes no mistake. Boy Lockyer looked slow then. He was left for dead, Jennings dummings and the Blues are bringing the house crashing down here. What a turnaround. It's 10-10 with the kick to come and Soward should bury this. 67th min I think it's safe to say we have a STATE OF ORIGIN on our hands here. The final 10 minutes should be sensational. 65th min TRY NSW! And just like that, the game is alive. Mitchell Pearce scampers over under the posts for NSW after Bird made a little bust. That's what they have him in there for. Wowee - it's 10-6 Qld and how quickly things can change. 63rd min They aren't done yet NSW! But after a great run from Jennings - the man who can't score - they cough it up very cheaply indeed and the Qlders start slapping backs all over again. Lots of time left though and NSW will take any encouragement they can get at the moment. 61st min Worst part for NSW, should they lose tonight, is that Qld likely get Hodges and Inglis back for game two.

60th min Finally, something gives. It's a penalty to Qld 30m out and right in front and they will happily take that one. Thurston lines it up - and it hits the post. NSW tidy up and work it out from their line. Do they remember what the ball looks like? It's still 10-0 to Qld. 58th min Now Lockyer is doing banana kicks. A tribute to Joey, his old sparring partner? Nearly works but the Blues are clinging on like they are auditioning for Cliffhanger. Easy metres now and Snowden hurt for NSW. Boy of boy. They almost muck up another kick and that's set number four in a row for Qld coming right up. 55th min It's all qld now. They just about go in again and their short kicking game has the Blues guessing at the moment. Lucky they didn't get the bounce there or it's another try. They force the drop-out though and are coming in numbers. It's white knuckle stuff for the Blues! 52nd min Yow Yeh starting to put a mark on the game after that try. Getting a lot of touches and making them count. Looks very assured the Broncos winger. Some space now for Qld and Dugan knocks it on. That was a tough pick-up under pressure but he should have just flopped on that one instead of picking it clean on the fly. 49th min That's put a spring in the step of the Qlders. Loughing forward now and monstered that kick chase. We're about to find out what the Blues have got. Where do the points come from?

46th min TRY to Qld! Yow Yeh - who makes a habit of scoring on debut - chases down a grubber from, you guessed it, Cronk. There really was nothing at all going on there and NSW had every right to clean that one up. Dugan's first blemish I think. No communcation between him and winger there. Maroons up 10-0, kick from the sideline missed. 45th min I can't actually work out where Cronk is playing but he's defending in the middle for Qld, with Parker on the bench. Curious move - maybe Meninga what's another point of attack with NSW blitzing Lockyer and Thurston? 42nd min That's a stinker of a kick from Thurston. Right to Uate and he eats it for breakfast. What was JT doing there? NSW can't score but they can certainly defend from what we've seen tonight. Right up in the Qld faces. 41st min So, yeah, starts don't get much worse than that. NSW throws a forward pass off the kick-off return. Qld have a 10m scrum. Seriously now. Press box whispers The prevailing wisdom among the league hacks over pies and sausage rolls is that the Blues have worked themselves right in this after an awful start. They are piling the pressure right on Lockyer and Thurston and that's disrupting the usual fluency of the Maroon attack. Let's see if Meninga can counter with some tactical changes. About to get rolling again - should be a cracker.

Halftime That's the break and Qld lead 6-0 thanks to that early try to Thurston. The Blues have done very well to hang in I think and given Qld controlled much of the play, could have been behind by more. But they find themselves right in the fight now and the Qlders have looked a little indecisive at times, putting down easy passes and seeming unsure of some plays. If you'll indulge, I'll take a quick break and be back for the second half. Leave your comments below or tweet with #Origin to join the conversation. 37th min Qld avert the crisis for the moment, with plenty of credit to Boyd, who races up on his wing and just buries Gasnier. Phwoaaar. Soward chips in behind but the Maroons clean it up. Lockyer sends it away and Dugan carries it back. To the Hayne fans - I hate to say it but Dugan looks the goods. 35th min Deft kick from Soward. As soon as his forwards make a bit of room, he looks fairly comfortable controlling the tempo and the play. Qld have a scrum 10m out from their line. It's that time of the half where mistakes can creep in. And it does! Lillyman again. Throws it forward. MASSIVE moment for NSW. 32nd min Boy the Qlders get value out of Boyd. Plucks a kick out of the air in-goal, runs up to take the tap and all of a sudden they are on their 40m line. Turning into a bit of a wrestle now, which Stuart will be well pleased about I'd think. Meninga will know his side has done well enough to be leading by more than a try. 30th min The Blues are attacking five metres out after a piggy back penalty and Ennis comes up with a howler! He just completely stuffs it up at dummy half as he tried to pass and the crowd lets him know about it as well. Now it's Qld's turn to work it out from trouble. Tonga still trucking as well. A miracle recovey storyline looming? Lillyman puts it down in midfield. Been a bit of that.

26th min Qld really need to put on another try (still 6-0) but won't this time, with Thurston dropping it cold as NSW looked to be shot to bits on the left. And a bit of niggle at long last! Soward in there. A few words said. All fine now. Nothing to see here, move along, move along. 23rd min That's a 70m dropout for NSW. Soward really can kick a footy. Tonga in all sorts of trouble for Qld. Looks like a shoulder problem. Cronk warming up. Is he really a centre? Kinda short. About to find out I suspect. As I write that, Qld almost go over! Boyd caught the cross-kick but passed it off instead of falling across the line. Another let-off for NSW. 20th min Civoniceva gets a break for Qld and Ben Hannant is sent into battle by Meninga. And Slater gets a let off there! He had an airswing at a NSW bomb but Boyd cleans it up right in front of the posts. That could have been very bad news for Qld. 18th min And Dugan knocks it on. Oops. But they are hanging in here the Blues. They'll fight there way into this I suspect. 15th min IT's still 6-0. Tonga in trouble here. Got tangled up with Dugan as he took a bomb - looked to be tackled in the air and NSW unlucky not to get the penalty there. Tonga seems to want to play on here and now the Blues force the turnover! Their first real chance to press some attack.

14th min Thurston is everywhere at the moment. Can't get his hands off the football. That grubber goes a little deep but the Blues are forced to drop it out. He is shaping as a big player here tonight. Qld attacking once again now. 12th min Impressed with Dugan early. He's been tested under high balls a few times and has gone through without a blemish thus far. Plenty of pressure on him as well. Ricky Stuart must be feeling slightly relieved. 10th min That's good stuff from the Blues as they find a big, big gap on the left side. Qld scramble pretty well though and it's Nielsen who bundles Jennings into touch. No nerves from the rookie but NSW won't mind a bit more of that caper.

8th min A penalty now to the Maroons. Sloppy stuff from NSW in the ruck. Smith nearly goes over but Thurston throws a risky pass and the Blues can breathe a sigh of relief there. All down there end at the moment though. 7th min TRY! NSW were going backwards in defence and Smith sees the gap. Grubbers through and after a mad chase, Thurston has scored under the posts. That was all too easy for the Maroons. Very assured start from them. It's 6-0 to Qld. Danger signs here if the Blues forwards can't do better than that.

2nd min That's a very solid set for Qld to start things off. Huge carry from Petero. He's almost unsmashable. NSW almost coughed it up there but Soward hammers one upfield - great confidence booster for him. 8.15pm And here we go folks. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. The Blues are kicking off and it's on like Donkey Kong. Early touch for Soward at least. Scott charges back and away we go! 8.08pm The Blues have arrived. They are just pounded with boos on the way out but love that I'm guessing. Just waiting for the Queensland skipper to come down the tunnel. The joint is going to go bonkers. I think I saw workmen starting on the new statue before the game. Oh come on... where are they. Ahhh.... there they are. And as they say in the classics, the crowd goes wild! 8.05pm They just replayed the famous "Queenslander" call from Billy Moore. Now he and Greg Inglis are out on the field with the Shield. What's doing GI? Can't play but happy to enjoy the hospitality? More importantly, just looking at that footage, when are they going to bring back the three-quarter sleeve jerseys? So much more elbow protection. 8.01pm Er, the Queenslanders get a slightly better reception. Not a lot I can add to that apart from the fact the cheer for Darren Lockyer just broke some windows in the pool hall over the road.

8pm The Blues are being introduced to the crowd on the big screen. Players still in the sheds. A chorus of boos obviously and poor old Jason King didn't even get one of those. Oh wait, they were saving it up for Bird and Gallen. 7.55pm On a serious note for a second, some footage now being broadcast on the big screen of the floods and of course, this famous ground in Milton which was badly damaged in January. The state is still recovering and sport is only a distraction to these type of events obviously. But I think both sides want to put on a good show tonight. And let's face it, in Origin is there any other type? Atmosphere really buidling now - spine-tingling stuff inside the venue. Anna Bligh's speech "We are Queenslanders" speech now. This really is set up for the Maroons. 7.52pm James Blunt wraps it up and has just been declared Queenslander of the Year for that jersey stunt. Fickle bunch. 7.51pm I can't confirm reports the QRL are requesting the jersey back at the end of the set. Times are tough you know. Back to the game, an interesting move to start Young. The Blues seem very keen to win the contacts at the start of the game. 7.49pm Blunt is back! They love it! He's just thrown on a Queensland jersey. What a man. Now he's dedicated You're Beautiful to the Maroon faithful. This is the biggest comeback since Kiwi's Melbourne Cup.

7.46pm More James Blunt furore in the press box here. To be fair, he is imparting a nice poppy feel before the blokes get out there and start trying to hammer each other. Who you got, by the way? Let me know. Go on. 7.43pm Here's Blunty now. All of a sudden, there's a huge rush of truckies and builders in the crowd flying out to get in one last beer before kick-off. Dear or dear. They should have got the covers band from the Paddo down here to pump out some Holy Grail. They love it up here. Loading 7.34pm It's a bonanza of pre-game entertainment by the way. Are you getting all of this on TV? The XXXX Angels, who managed to duck the legal wrangling about signage rights it appears, are getting their groove on as we speak before the velvety ballads of James Blunt sends the joint into overdrive. Nothing says Origin like You're Beautiful. 7.30pm Good evening everyone. I've made it through the hordes of mad Queenslanders to my seat at Suncorp Stadium, where I'll be bring you live updates of the Origin opener. Team changes to get us moving - Dean Young is starting for the Blues in place of Michael Ennis while the home side is as per program. Love to hear your thoughts - comment below or tweet with #Origin and it will flash through the nifty little device above. Chilly night here in Brisbane but stunning weather for Origin footy.

