When the match-winning play had to be made, it came as no surprise that Queensland's champion skipper Darren Locker delivered.

Lockyer threw an inside pass to fellow strike weapon Billy Slater to score a try, which sealed a thrilling 16-12 victory for the Maroons in the opening State of Origin match at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night.

Watching from the bench, prop Ben Hannant never doubted the home side would come back to snatch a dramatic victory.

"I honestly thought they (NSW) weren't going to win it," Hannant said.

"We've just got too many strike players all around the field.

"We just knew we had to get the ball back, get back in the arm wrestle and the points would come.

"It's hard to stop Locky and Billy when we're attacking their line."

It was the experienced Lockyer, playing his final Origin series, who rallied his teammates behind the goalposts.

The Maroons found themselves 12-10 down with 10 minutes left on the clock, after Blues' centre Michael Jennings had broken his try-scoring drought in style.

"Locky was saying 'get back into it, get the arm wrestle going and stop those drop balls and penalties' and that's what we did," revealed winger Darius Boyd, who came up with two crunching hits on Dragons' teammate Mark Gasnier.

"He's one of those players everyone looks to and everyone wants to hear what he says.

"He's a class act. He's a bit like a coach on the field.

"He's got a lot of experience and a lot of goods things to say."

Brisbane captain Lockyer equalled Allan Langer's record of 34 Origin games.

His leadership skills were vital, as were the big plays from his cohorts Johnathan Thurston and Slater, while props Matt Scott and Petero Civoniceva were outstanding up the middle.

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