It was a Blues debut to remember for Nathan Peats as he helped guide New South Wales to a dominant 28-4 win over Queensland in Game I on Wednesday night.
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The latest in a number of dummy-halves blooded by the Blues in recent years, Peats put in a composed performance with rugby league great Peter Sterling particularly pleased with what he saw.
With a game-high 53 tackles to his name, the 26-year-old hooker played his part in the win and Sterlo believes his contribution shouldn't be underestimated.
"Nathan Peats was outstanding - it was as good of a debut at Origin level as I think you'll see," Sterling said on Triple M Saturday NRL.
"It was said to me that if you didn't see too much of Nathan Peats then he's done his job.
"And to some degree that's right, but he's hard to miss.
"His first-up contact is great, he hits and sticks, service was excellent, went the full 80 minutes - and that was really important to the team, because it meant you had much more flexibility in the way that Laurie used the bench."
Though failing to back up for the Titans on Saturday night, Peats would seem to be a certain starter for Game II after his near faultless debut.
