Isaah Yeo could well return to the Origin conversation after a number of injuries made the Blues' loss even more painful on Wednesday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite starting as big favourites and leading 10-0 at half-time, NSW suffered a 18-14 defeat to Wayne Bennett's baby maroons at the Adelaide Oval.
It sets up a cracking game two in Sydney next week but Blues coach Brad Fittler has plenty to deal with before then.
Questions about his team selection and lineup began almost as soon as the full-time whistle went while he will also has to deal with injuries to Cameron Murray, Boyd Cordner, and Jack Wighton.
Cordner's concussion problems continued with the Blues captain taken off for a head injury assessment in just the 19th minute.
It looked like it would call into question his participation in the rest of the series given his history, but he was able to return - which raised a few eyebrows given he missed seven games due to head knocks this season.
But the Blues did lose his replacement, Murray, who limped off while Cordner was being assessed and has since been ruled out of the rest of the series.
Wighton then limped off late on and didn't return.
With question marks over the back row, St John's junior Yeo is waiting in the wings along with Eels enforcer Nathan Brown and Melbourne's Dale Finucane.
READ ALSO:
Yeo was part of Fittler's initial 27-man squad but was one of the unfortunate players cut in the days leading up to game one of this year's series.
While he was the Dally M Lock of the Year in 2020 and proved himself one of the hardest working players in the middle of the park, Yeo is also proven as a wider-running second rower.
His consistent style of play could also be just what the Blues need out wider after centres Wighton and Clint Gutherson were both caught out on occasion on Wednesday night.
Queensland centre Kurt Capewell - a late call-up after Brenko Lee failed a fitness test - set up the try that sparked his side's comeback early in the second half before Maroons five-eighth Cameron Munster scored what proved to be the winner.
That all came after the Blues had started the better.
A Damien Cook grubber ricocheted back into his own hands and he darted over from close range before Josh Addo-Carr, playing on the unfamiliar right wing,finished off a simple overlap after Tedesco injected himself into the attack to extend the lead on 20 minutes.
It remained 10-0 until half-time but no sooner had a chant of "Queenslander" gone up in the second stanza and the Maroons created something out of nothing.
Capewell produced a nice fend on Gutherson and as he galloped into space, he put in an awkward-but-perfect kick for Maroons fullback AJ Brimson to make it a contest.
Then in the blink of an eye the Maroons were in front as centre Dane Gagai broke a Wighton tackle and went clear before putting his winger Xavier Coates over for a try on debut.
Munster extended the lead and while Addo-Carr's second set-up a grandstand finish it wasn't to be for the Blues.