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Firstly, Blues coach Brad Fittler’s decision to play utility Jack Wighton and pick Panthers ace Stephen Crichton on the bench.
And secondly, Fittler handing Reagan Campbell-Gillard his second Blues jersey in four years over pack mainstay Jake Trbojevic.
Also left out of the beaten Blues line-up on Wednesday night were 18th man and Mr Fix-It Nicho Hynes and 19th man with raw power and leg speed, Tyson Frizell.
Both players, as well as Trbojevic, must come under serious consideration for Origin II on Sunday, June 26 in Perth.
Hynes with his X-factor, Frizell with his force and Trbojevic with his never-say-die defensive mindset could prove pivotal.
Trailing 16-4 and with 20-minutes remaining last night, Blues legend Andrew Johns claimed NSW had “run out of answers in attack.’’
Fittler has 18-days to come up with the solutions to save the state from surrendering the State of Origin shield to Queensland.
Campbell-Gillard had the opportunity of a lifetime to deliver for NSW.
He wasn’t in the Blues squad 10-days ago, but with NSW incumbent Daniel Saifiti (knee) unavailable, the Blues hierarchy ran out of ‘big men’ to choose from.
So much so, Daniel’s brother Jacob was parachuted into the extended squad.
Instead, it was the Eels prop Campebll-Gillard that was handed his second NSW jersey since 2018, by not just joining the Blues final-17, but elevated an hour before kick-off into the starting front-row alongside Payne Haas.
In his first-half stint, Campbell-Gillard played just 21-minutes with five runs culminating in 37-metres.
He finished the match with a further 15-minutes and a game total of 10-runs for 87-metres, according to Fox Sports Stats.
With the Blues searching for field position in the closing stages of the match, the NSW pack were labouring.
“Struggling to get forward, Brad Fittler spoke about it halftime,’’ Johns pointed out on Nine’s TV coverage.
Would Frizell, renowned for his fearless carries, have made that difference? That’s a question Fittler must consider ahead of a series-defining game two.
Trbojevic may not have won the game with his hit-ups, but with the Manly leader’s ability to make an average of 40 tackles per-game, it’s his own version of “Queensland’s” never-say-die attitude that NSW were missing last night.
Ultimately, that’s why Queensland won.
“They saved more tries than we did,’’ NSW halfback Nathan Cleary said, pointedly.
Wighton must stay at centre for game two, but the value of keeping Crichton on the bench, must be dissected in the wash-up of last night’s loss.
Undeniably, the Raiders captain repaid the faith of Fittler in spades.
Wighton’s defence, particularly his line-speed, was ferocious.
With the nightmares of his sub-par 2020 series at centre imprinted on his brain, Wighton did everything possible to inspire the Blues.
He saved more tries with last-ditch tackles than what he did in scoring one of his own to get the Blues rolling on the scoreboard in the 15th minute.
As Johns also said: ‘He’s been NSW best.’’
16 of Queensland’s 22 series wins have come when winning game one.
“It’s a leg in the door, but a couple of years ago we did this and let it go,’’ Maroons star and man of the match last night Cam Munster said.
