Champion five-eighth Darren Lockyer's farewell Test to Queensland fans on Friday night was a real family affair and the first notch in what could be an amazing end to an amazing career.

With his wife Loren, young son, Sunny, parents Sharon and David and brothers Matt and Russell perched proudly among the 26,301 fans in the Skilled Park stands Lockyer led Australia to their 27th win in 35th Test under his watch.

Lockyer's road to the finish line of a journey which started as a pretzel teenager from country Roma in 1995 will see him walk away from rugby league not just as the game's most decorated, but also its most successful.

He's already played the most Tests (55), scored the most Test tries (34) and captained the most wins (27) for his country; while he will surpass Allan Langer's total of 34 State of Origin matches if he plays this series.

He's been the best in the business in two positions after launching his marvellous career at fullback and will retire with more than 350 NRL games.

Lockyer has a chance to add another Origin series to his record, collect a fifth premiership ring and finally hang up his boots on a high, regaining the Four Nations trophy in the UK at the end of the year.

It would emulate his career best 2006 haul when he won the one-off Test against the Kiwis, kick-started Queensland's record five successive series' streak, led Brisbane to an upset grand final victory over Melbourne and captured the Tri Nations for Australia.

With the first leg down, Brisbane sitting on top of the NRL ladder and Queensland white hot favourites to make it six straight Origin series, things look good for Lockyer's farewell party.

He said again after showing his tactical class against the Kiwis he had formulated a plan to deal with the distractions which would confront him as he worked towards retirement in the coming months with the media pressures building on him.

Broncos coach Anthony Griffin told Lockyer on Wednesday he didn't want him backing up from a physical Test to play against Melbourne 24 hours later.

But a mark of the man is that when he learned that decision had upset Brisbane fans, he told Griffin he would play if he felt alright on Saturday morning.

That won't happen.

Griffin's belief in his young players is strong.

He may be a rookie but he knows it's in everyone's best interests, especially Lockyer's, to sit this one out so close to a gruelling Origin series.

Lockyer and several of his teammates stayed out on the field after the 20-10 Test win to pay tribute to thousands of fans who've supported him during his marvellous 16 year career.

He tried to say thanks to all of them, in the end had to be dragged out of the stands for the official post-match press conference with Australian coach Tim Sheens.

"I wanted to thank the people here who have supported me - there were people with banners I've seen my whole career," said an emotional Lockyer.

"My arm was getting a bit tired towards the end there, high-fiving everyone."

But Lockyer knows the ride is not over yet, not by a long way.

"Lockyer's got a small amount of games left in him in the green and gold and every win we can produce for him is going to be a memorable one for him," declared fullback Billy Slater.

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