Depending on your allegiance, it was either the best of times or the worst of times. “Times”, in this case, refers to the opening 40 minutes at the MCG on Wednesday night.

The Blues team were untouchable in arguably the most dominant first-half performance by an Origin side.

Stephen Crichton made the highlights reel in attack and defence. And who knew Mitchell Moses, a deserved man of the match, was capable of tackling with such force.

Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans conceded after the game: “We got what we deserved. We didn’t play the way we wanted to play, and the Blues made us pay.”

Here are five moments that went a long way to shaping the 38-18 result.

Jarome Luai’s kick for Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow wasn’t his best, but Crichton showed tremendous urgency to drag ‘The Hammer’ back into his in-goal.

Crichton stayed upright the whole time and intentionally grabbed Tabuai-Fidow around the collar and rag-dolled him with the help of Liam Martin.

From the set of six that followed the drop-out, NSW scored via Brian To’o.

Crichton not only........

© Brisbane Times