It's that time of year when a humble hospitality precinct just outside the Brisbane CBD becomes the centre of the rugby league universe, or from a Queensland perspective- the entire universe.
"I still don't get it, and I'll never like it," says Blues villain of 40 years (and genuine nice guy) Benny Elias.
''This bloody Queensland spirit. They might not have the best team, but they won't lie down."
Really Benny, you're tipping the Maroons?
"S--t no. Blues by 14."
Benny's bravado speaks to a smoldering confidence shared by the many hundreds of Blues fans vocally traipsing to the ground still locally referred to as Lang Park. Caxton Street rarely fails to deliver a colourful array of fanfare, jubilation and language for anyone game enough to descend it. The sea of humanity, awash with shades of sky blue and maroon naturally pours down the gentle slope and into the Suncorp Stadium's wider perimeter.
This year, there's an extra stop for Maroons fans to pay homage; an all new 'Queenslander' exhibit honouring the name of every player to trot out for their state in the Origin arena. It sits adjacent to the legvendary statue alley; and it's here ESPN stumbles across some unlikely pilgrims. A pack of young men draped in NSW Blue.
"Brett Kenny's the king, but you gotta pay your respects... bloody Wally," says one.
"We were just grateful when he retired," offers another.
Further along, a young boy and his dad are lining up and waiting for their turn to pose with the bronzed footballing deity. Eight-year-old Glen is wearing a Maroons jersey with No. 3 on the back.
"The next Robert Toia," says his Dad; referencing an NRL rookie still yet to actually taste Origin football, but who's meteoric rise shows fans young and old that in this arena; nothing is impossible.
And therein lies the magic. It spans eras, dances across generations, and sparks awe, loathing and begrudging respect in equal measure.
Breakdancing, pyrotechnics, and... did Jimmy Barnes just air guitar the State of Origin shield?
A quirky final ten minutes before kickoff is highlighted by a stirring video montage of the Maroons epic 1995 win, topped off by Trevor Gillmeister himself delivering the game ball. The same guy who defied medical advice and literally cheated death to captain the third match of that series. Inspiration or omen, time will tell, but the crowd appears to understand the magnitude of the challenge facing the 2025 squad. The roar given to Billy Slater when the Queensland coach's mugshot appears on the big screen dwarfs that of any other player or coach featured; underpinning the belief the state has in its coach. Because make no mistake- his side is up against it this year.
It's a frenetic and fiery opening; a fracas, a stupid penalty, a significant shot by Moeaki Fotuaika on Mitchell Moses, a poorly disguised strip by Fotuaika, and a kind of anti-climactic two points collected by Nathan Cleary. Through it all, early signs of Blues advantage- as runners pour themselves into the defensive arms of Daly Cherry-Evans, Cameron Munster and Harry Grant. Fuel drains, Reece Robson steals metres from dummy half, the Maroons middle is forced into some desperate lateral lunges, the vaunted NSW backrow dishes up a buffet of line speed and stinging defence. Most ominously, Cleary already has the one defining asset of any great playmaker- TIME. For the Maroons; credible threats emerge on the right edge; Toia combining with Xavier Coates for a line break, Coates chasing a high ball that travels slightly long into the Blues ingoal. Cherry-Evans makes a point of peppering that side of the field; and the momentum swings back to level.
The pace remains up 20 minutes in and it's becoming evident fatigue MIGHT just play an enormous role in determining the outcome of an increasingly volatile middle third of the field. Gaps appear and are closed by lunging forwards, offloads add further strain to already bent defensive lines, and kick pressure offers point scoring opportunity. It's this last point that leads to an extension of the Blues advantage in the 25th minute. Cleary, having been harassed by Maroons forwards for every kick so far, fakes a kick, finds none other than Payne Haas, and a chain of attack ends with a Stephen Crichton bullet to Zac Lomax. A rare sideline miss from Cleary. 6-nil. A few sets earlier; Munster's frustration could be felt from the grandstand after a Grant dummy half lunge robbed the Maroons of a last tackle crack at the Blues line. A rough, loose and potentially inaccurate translation of Munster's words: 'Every moment must count.'
Grant breeches the halfway line and drops the ball in the 28th minute, and NSW have another full set inside the Queensland half. The trauma inducing DING of the set restart bell consigns the Maroons to an extended assault, but it's irrelevant. The same edge that was threatening the Blues in attack falters in defence. Coates comes in to jam Latrell Mitchell, despite the presence of Toia. Whether a lack of faith or over compensation, it's a punch to the guts of the Queensland cause. 10-nil.
Much like the unusually lacklustre buildup to the game, the great ground is suddenly quiet (aside from the short pop song stings blasting out of its many speakers). Munster can't resist a cheeky niggle, Cherry-Evans has a quick lie down in the ruck, Grant receives a friendly-fire version of a Liverpool kiss from Lindsay Collins. Cleary conducts some basic shape, Dylan Edwards distributes, Crichton tests the boundaries of obstruction, Lomax scores. Queensland fans take some solace in a rare poor night with the boot from the NSW halfback. 14-nil. Brian To'o earns himself a stint in the bin with a poorly disguised aerial grasp of Coates' midriff, and Val Holmes gives the most optimistic of Maroons fans a hint of hope. 14-2 halftime.
Any chance of turning that hope into triumph had to begin quickly in the second half, and the sight of Holmes being dragged over the sideline in a swarm of suffocating Blue extinguished the earliest sniff. Jeremiah Nanai- apparently unconvinced- irons out Mitchell, Coates pins his ears back, the crowd rediscovers its voice, Holmes misses one from the corner. 47 minutes gone. 14-6.
Max King ends a commendable entry to the Origin furnace shortly after a Kalyn Ponga dropped ball and rare scrum infringement from debutant Trent Loiero affords NSW another stretch of time in the opposition half. Slater and Daley deploy the rotations and the fire of Haas is countered by the brimstone of Fa'asuamaleaui. Tom Dearden introduces a bit of direct play for the Maroons but quality support is lacking in a flagging outside backline.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow hasn't spent any time in the three quarter line this year and is guilty of over-running support and receiving the ball flat footed. Errors are widening the smile on Daley's face and harpooning an energetic third quarter from the Maroons. Cherry-Evans wastes a captains challenge and the Maroons find themselves working out of their own end as the game enters its final 15 minutes. A collection of five separate infringements from the Maroons inside a five-minute period make the prospect of a comeback even more unlikely. And it is with the exhaustion of self-inflicted torment that a desperate scramble for a live ball ends up in the hands of Edwards. Some might call it a lucky drop, others an inevitable result of a Maroons side that was just a bit off on the big day.
It doesn't take much in Origin but 13 errors, nine penalties conceded and 54 missed tackles would put even the greatest of Queensland outfits under pressure. The fact the Blues numbers weren't galaxies ahead speaks to a fixture that won't rank in the pantheon of all time Origin classics. Slater's troops won't be accused of not throwing themselves at everything even remotely Blue, but will rue some highly unfavourable stats.
Daley would've cringed throughout a patchy second half but has at his disposal a team with a definite 1-17 class advantage. There may be a few cynical questions over a quiet-ish return to the arena from Mitchell (by his standards) and a slightly momentum decreasing impact from the bench; but the Blues were a superior outfit and probably entitled to win it by more.
Some may say the aura of Suncorp Stadium diminishes with each Blues win; others might be more compelled to review the sheer numbers of the apparently injured man-of-the-match Haas, the orchestral synergy of Cleary and Edwards, the persistent threat and smooth second foil work of Moses, the class of Crichton and the pitch perfect wing play of Lomax. The Blues have a shot at a sustained period of dominance over their northern nemesis; the Maroons have an enormous amount of work to do and the answers won't be found in the form of widespread changes. They just need to be better.
"Always tough to give away your home advantage with a performance like that... we are just going to have to go the long way around," Cherry-Evans says post match.
In other words; it's Origin, and anything can happen. See you in Perth.