Controversy dogged NSW's selections for State of Origin II but, if the Blues learned anything on Wednesday night, they learned captain Paul Gallen was every bit a prop forward.

In fact, an incredible prop forward.

Man of the match Gallen put new meaning into the word "workaholic" in the Blues' 18-8 victory after being switched from his regular position in the back row to play up front.

In an era when many props are content with 30-minute cameos, he played an almost unheard of 80 minutes, ran for a staggering 234m in 18 hit-ups and made 30 tackles.

From the first hit-up of the match, the skipper was the bedrock for NSW's victory, which came with a side some had considered short on grunt, after coach Ricky Stuart went with just two specialist front-rowers and six regular backrowers, including Gallen.

If Gallen's move was question number one for the Blues, question number two was undoubtedly whether that number of backrowers could tough out an Origin match.

Stuart's gamble was there for all to see from the last few minutes of the first half when there were no specialist props on the field, and no regular hooker for that matter.

With Kurt Gidley at dummy-half, Luke Lewis and Anthony Watmough in the fray and Tim Mannah and Trent Merrin on the bench, the Blues looked to take advantage of the tired Maroons pack with inside balls.

It worked. Watmough was a constant menace with his damaging ball-running, while the backrowers' mobility in defence was no more evident than in Lewis' try-saving tackle on Cooper Cronk as the Maroons threatened late in the second half.

If there was another big question over the Blues' side, it was what the hell was 19-year-old Will Hopoate doing playing left centre, a position he'd played just twice in the NRL.

Scoring tries at Origin level might have been the answer.

His 49th-minute putdown was millimetre perfect and he had looked right at home on the game's biggest stage before limping off with a hamstring problem in the 61st minute.

Plenty doubted Stuart after the Blues were pummelled in the middle at Suncorp Stadium last month but, for Origin II, he got it right.

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