Changes to the team were largely minor with Matt Gillett earning his first promotion to the starting side to replace the injured Sam Thaiday in the second-row whilst Aidan Guerra from the Sydney Roosters makes his debut from the bench.

After missing out from the second and third games from last year due to injury, Jarryd Hayne returned to the side to reclaim his fullback role over Josh Dugan.

Joining the bench, fellow forward Tony Williams was also recalled due to improved form and likely combinations with his club team mate halves.

The attempted conversion from Johnathan Thurston, who only needed four points to surpass Mal Meninga as the highest pointscorer in Origin history, was unsuccessful; leaving the score 4–0 to the Maroons.

Queensland continued to attack the New South Wales line in the final minutes; they had one last play after a penalty in the last few seconds, but desperate defence from the Blues ensured that they would win their first match in Brisbane since 2009 and first Game I in the city since 2003.

[4] In the aftermath of the Blues' victory, five-eighth Josh Reynolds was charged with a dangerous tackle on the Maroons' Brent Tate, but earned a successful downgrade at the judiciary, freeing him to play in Game II, while Brett Morris was later diagnosed with a fractured shoulder which has ruled him out for the entire series.

As a result, Mal Meninga chose to carry 22 man squad into game two, where he would name Will Chambers, Ben Hunt, Jacob Lillyman, Anthony Milford and Willie Tonga as his reserves.

To further complicate matters, forwards Josh Papalii and Corey Parker would later rule themselves out with injury, forcing Meninga to announce David Taylor as another reserve.

On game day, Slater, Inglis and Cherry-Evans would pass fitness to reprise their positions, with Thaiday named at lock and Aidan Guerra into the starting second row.

Daley would choose Will Hopoate and Josh Dugan as the respective replacements, both players of whom debuted in 2011 as centre and fullback but were instead selected to play in unfamiliar positions.

Unavailable for the first game due to suspension, Greg Bird returns to the side as lock, shifting Paul Gallen to the front row whilst James Tamou replaced Tony Williams on the interchange.

[7][8] As had been the case in the first two matches, the first half was a defensive affair, with the first try not coming until just before half-time, when Cameron Smith pounced on a kick by Daly Cherry-Evans to score close to the posts with two minutes remaining.

NSW: Clint Gutherson (Manly), Jake Mamo (Newcastle), Aaron Gray (South Sydney), Sione Mata'utia (Newcastle), Tyrone Phillips (Canterbury), Drew Hutchison (St George Illawarra), Mitchell Moses (Wests Tigers), Jake Trbojevic (Manly), Kaysa Pritchard (c) (Parramatta), Matthew Lodge (Wests Tigers), Jakiel Mariner (Sydney Roosters), Adam Elliott (Canterbury), Jack Bird (St George Illawarra).