He'll need to do much more to secure a maiden series win as coach, but a possible decider at Suncorp Stadium is now the worst case scenario heading into game two on neutral ground in Perth.

The dynasty Slater was part of as a player has long disappeared from the rear-view mirror, but the ghosts of it linger in the presence of Cameron Smith and Jonathan Thurston on the Maroons staff.

Certainly Queensland's win on Wednesday looked pulled out of their old playbook, absorbing an early onslaught to take the lead and seemingly multiply again and again with each Blues attempt at a late comeback.

And they needed every jumper as the Blues went within literally inches of a late equaliser through Isiah Yeo on the final play. It was remarkable Yeo was there at all with just seconds left after being flattened by Josh Papalii with the match just seconds old.

It sealed a memorable Queensland win that came despite the loss of Xavier Coates to an ankle injury 10 minutes before halftime, and the momentary loss of fellow debutant Jeremiah Nanai, who remarkably returned from what looked to be a match-ending injury just three minutes into the second half.

However the cards fell, the Maroons adapted. The Blues ability to do the same with the 17 that took the park on Wednesday will come into sharp focus in the wash-up.

Brad Fittler's decision to pick Stephen Crichton on the bench appeared shrewd when Kotoni Staggs left the game with a shoulder injury 10 minutes into the second half, but whether having a centre on the bench is the best move going forward will be hotly debated.

Jack Wighton was just about the Blues best at left centre, but the strike the Maroons got from the dummy-half tandem of Ben Hunt and Harry Grant will provide plenty of food for thought with Api Koroisau waiting in the wings.

Fittler produced a surprise that wasn't all that surprising when he opted to start Liam Martin on the right edge and Reagan Campbell-Gillard up front, with Cam Murray and Junior Paulo shifting to the bench.

It was a shake-up that gave the Blues most of the early running, and the opening try to Wighton 14 minutes in, but Slater's use of the interchange proved telling through the first 40 minutes.

While NSW had most of the early momentum, the injection of Grant, Lindsay Collins and Pat Carrigan from the bench proved a momentum-shifter, allowing Queensland to hit back through Dane Gagai five minutes before the break.

Fundamentally though, in a game so evenly poised, it was the men in key positions that proved the difference.

Cam Munster had no legitimate rival for man of the match honours, with he and skipper Daly Cherry-Evans winning a clear points decision over Blues pair Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai.

Munster was everywhere with and without the footy and made the incisive run that opened the door for Cherry-Evans' try in the 49th minute that truly set the win in motion - though the Blues were left protesting that Paulo had been held back in breaking from the scrum.

Likewise, reborn centre Val Holmes produced arguably his best game at Origin level, while the Maroons didn't have a single debutant who played like a first-gamer.

Carrigan was arguably the best forward on the park, while Reuben Cotter made 51 tackles playing middle and edge in 80 minutes on debut.

"He is Queensland," Slater said of the latter.

"I'm really proud of that group of players. There's not much between there's two teams, it's State of Origin, there never is. It comes down to moments, small moments, but they're big moments.

"There was lot of them out there. I won't single any one out but there were so many little moments that contributed to Queensland's victory tonight.

"There's some proud boys in that dressing room right now and they deserve to be. It was the way Queensland have played for decades, that's what won us the game tonight."

Skipper James Tedesco looked easily the man most likely for the Blues in the second half, but he was part of a spine comprehensively outplayed.

NSW were game in forcing the grandstand finish, but never truly got wind back in their sails after Paulo had a try disallowed two minutes before halftime.

The Eels bookend barged across from close range following an error from Reuben Cotter in the set that followed Gagai's breakthrough, only for replays to reveal Cam Murray clearly obstructing Carrigan in the lead-up.

It was a let-off for the Maroons who went into the interval with a two-point cushion and were never headed.

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Whether the Blues look for change at the selection table, or merely in tactics, they have it all to do ahead of game two to set up a decider in Brisbane.

"It's always tough. If you lose the first one you're obviously up against it," Fittler said.

"We'll travel to Perth and have a week's preparation there and then obviously we've got to win it in Queensland [in game three]. Winning the game there last year will give us a lot of confidence at Suncorp, but it's a good challenge."

Wighton barged across for the opener 14 minutes in and it took 20 minutes for the Maroons to hit back through Gagai, who grabbed a four-pointer courtesy of some Selwyn Cobbo brilliance.

In a narrow corridor, the debutant picked up a Kayln Ponga pass on the bounce and threaded the needle with a grubber for Gagai as the sideline chalk loomed.

The Maroons lost Coates only moments before, with a reshuffle seeing Holmes shift the left wing and Kurt Capewell deployed in the centres.

Injury struck again for the Maroons just three minutes into the second half, with Nanai rolling his right ankle and leaving the park to force another reshuffle.

It did little to halt the Maroons momentum, with Munster splitting the Blues open through the middle with an incisive run.

A desperate hand from Daniel Tupou denied a try, but there was no denying Cherry-Evans from the base of the scrum that followed.

Holmes converted his skipper's try for a 12-4 lead after 49 minutes as the Blues lost Staggs to a shoulder injury.

Crichton was injected from the bench at right centre, his first involvement upending Munster and marching the Maroons up the park for Holmes to cross off a Ponga long-ball.

It gave the Maroons all the running but they couldn't put it to bed, Murray crossing with a beautiful line onto a Cleary short ball to cut the margin back to six with nine minutes left.

The Blues pressed hard to equalise late only to be repeatedly denied by some desperate Queensland defence right up to the final tackle on Yeo.

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