New South Wales leads Queensland 16-6 at half-time in Origin II at ANZ Stadium.
Despite the Maroons scoring the opening try, it was the Blues who struck back with three four-pointers to take a 10-point lead into the break.
It was a nervous start for Maroons debutant Valentine Holmes who lost the ball with his first touch in the Origin arena after a huge hit from Aaron Woods in the second minute.
Despite the shaky start, the 21-year-old made up for the effort to hand Queensland the early advantage.
NSW five-eighth James Maloney was penalised for a tackle off the ball on Billy Slater to send the visitors into Blues territory.
Queensland took just two tackles to take an early lead when Slater found Darius Boyd on the left edge and the fullback-turned-centre delivered a pass for Holmes to show a tippy-toe effort and go over in the corner.
Holmes' first try at State of Origin level was also the 600th four-pointer in the history between the two sides.
The Blues ensured the lead was short-lived when Queensland were caught offside in the middle of the field.
A simple backline movement from Laurie Daley's men resulted in Jarryd Hayne going over in the left-hand corner for his 11th try in his Origin career.
With all the talk of Andrew Fifita in the lead-up to the clash after his Origin I heroics, the prop-forward was well contained by the Maroons in the opening half with 37 metres from seven carries.
Front-row partner Aaron Woods proved more dominant with 88 metres in his opening stint.
NSW struck a double blow 10 minutes later when Maloney made up for an earlier error to slice past a fresh Tim Glasby to link with Brett Morris who went over in the corner.
Jake Trbojevic was the provider after points when he threw an inside pass to James Tedesco who skipped away up field before finding Mitchell Pearce in support in the 24th minute.
The scoreline could've got worse for the Maroons when Hayne went close before being taken into touch.
Queensland had two opportunities a minute before half-time but were denied by two try-saving efforts from both Trbojevic and Josh Dugan respectively.
NSW Blues 16 (Hayne, Morris, Pearce tries; 2 goals) lead Queensland Maroons 6 (Holmes try; Thurston goal) at ANZ Stadium
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