Queensland Maroons win State of Origin I in first half: Wayne Bennett

Now the ball's in the NSW Blues' court, with Brad Fittler saying they'll look at their own game to turn it around for State of Origin II.

The Maroons produced a brilliant second half to storm over the top of the highly fancied Blues to claim game one 18-14 at an Adelaide Oval that drew praise from Bennett.

But he felt their ability to minimise the damage going into the wind in the opening 40 minutes was the key to their upset win.

At the very least it could set up a grandstand finish in Origin III in Brisbane in a fortnight.

While the Maroons dominated possession in the opening 20 minutes they didn't take advantage and the Blues were able to shoot out to a two-try lead.

But it was all Queensland in the second half as a chant of "Queenslander" reverberated around the picturesque stadium.

Maroons hero Kurt Capewell, who set up the opening try to spark the comeback, hurt his groin, but Bennett said he - and Brenko Lee (calf), who he came into replace - should be available for game two.

"I wasn't worried about the self belief. They put a Maroon jersey on and they know the expectation that comes with it," Bennett said.

"It's not luck that it happens. It's the way they approached the camp, the way they trained, the way they got on with each other.

"I wasn't happy at 10-0, but I wasn't worried. 10-0's always gettable ... and I thought we won it in the first half actually because we hung in when we weren't playing well.

"We didn't concede any soft tries and I thought that was pretty important."

Fittler agreed with Bennett's assessment and was disappointed with the Blues' errors.

But he said they would take plenty from last year, when they turned around a 1-0 series deficit to make it back-to-back series wins.

They'll have one week and the backing of a parochial Sydney crowd for game two at ANZ Stadium next Wednesday.

"I trust in the group. It's a great challenge. We've got great character and they now know what sort of team they're playing against," Fittler said.

"They're a really good footy team. They defended well under pressure, they didn't crack. So it will be a great series.

"Everyone's aware of the ability of Wayne Bennett. He's one of the greatest coaches of all time.

"But at the end of the day we'll look at our own game and say there's areas where we could've done better and our quality wasn't that fantastic.

"So it's up to us. I still feel like the ball's in our court and we can turn it around."