Maroons rue second half capitulation after strong start

Queensland coach Jason Hetherington conceded missed opportunities in the first half killed off any chance of the Maroons overcoming a fast-finishing NSW at North Sydney Oval on Friday night.

NSW rallied in the final 22 minutes to lay on three unanswered tries after the Maroons held onto a 4-0 lead at the half-time break in front of a packed 10,515 crowd at the historic venue.

It was a similar result to last year's clash with the Maroons having the upper hand before falling away late.

The Maroons completed at 94% in the opening half but could only manage 58% completions in the second.

Maroons stalwart Heather Ballinger was enormous for Queensland in the opening 20 minutes to go close to scoring twice but the Blues held their nerve to only concede one try in the opening half.

"I would've liked a bit more [points in the first half], we had a try disallowed with a forward pass and there were a couple of opportunities," Hetherington said.

"We were better in the first half and the Blues were better in the second half. It's as simple as that, a typical game of footy with two halves.

"Completions held us in the first half, I think we were 15 of 16 and in any game that's amazing.

"The second half we couldn't complete and were camped down in our good ball zone and NSW capitalised on it."

The Maroons will take plenty away from the result despite being on the wrong end of the scoreboard for the fourth consecutive season.

Boom prop Chelsea Lenarduzzi relished her opportunity of being back in the Origin fold, while North Queensland product Stephanie Mooka topped the running metres count with 138.

Mooka caught the eye of Hetherington playing for Queensland Country at the Harvey Norman National Championships last month.

"There were a lot of new faces in the rep sides, it's growing rapidly," Hetherington said.

"A lot of girls have come out of retirement after having families and they want to be a part of it.

"Chelsea Lenarduzzi really stood up and I thought she had a great game.

"She showed a lot of belief that she belongs here. I spoke to her all week about it. She was outstanding for us.

"Certainly something to look forward to with a couple more experienced front rowers we have only having one or two years left."