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NSW coach Laurie Daley’s surprising Origin admission

New South Wales coach Laurie Daley.

New South Wales coach Laurie Daley. Photo: Getty

New South Wales coach Laurie Daley has stunningly claimed his side won the State of Origin series opener because they “got lucky” – despite a lopsided 28-4 scoreline.

Led by outstanding performances from Andrew Fifita and James Tedesco, the Blues thrashed Queensland at Suncorp Stadium in a commanding performance.

It led Queensland coach Kevin Walters to swing the axe in a bid to keep the series alive in Wednesday’s game two.

Daley raised eyebrows on Tuesday evening, though, when he said New South Wales made the most of good fortune in their triumph.

“We got lucky in game one,” Daley told Fox Sports.

“We got lucky. They’re a stronger side and we know what they’re capable of doing.

“We’ve won nothing. We’ve achieved nothing.”

Daley’s comments appeared to be a way of New South Wales showing no complacency, and he is aware that the return of Queensland stars Johnathan Thurston and Billy Slater will make a big difference in game two – even if the match will be played in front of a partisan crowd at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

“Yes, it’s great to have all that support behind us, because it feels great,” he said.

“But it can change pretty quickly and Queensland have been the champions for so long and to beat them would be something special for our group of guys.

“Queensland have always floated between good to great most of the time over the last 10 years.

“We’ve always floated between ordinary and good, and sometimes fleetingly we’ll have a great moment.

“So for us to be the side we want to be, we have to back it up.”

Queensland will also blood four debutants on Wednesday, with Valentine Holmes, Jarrod Wallace, Coen Hess and Tim Glasby all set to feature.

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