The Maroons got the result on Wednesday, and Joe Ofahengaue's dream came true in representing his state. However, the Broncos forward has been struck down by injury.
Ofahengaue has been ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Titans at Suncorp Stadium after copping a knee injury during Wednesday's Origin clash.
The frustrating news for Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold - and Maroons gaffer Kevin Walters - is that Ofahengaue's layoff period remains unclear.
Ofahengaue was a shining light for Queensland in the 18-14 win, the 23-year-old nearly racking up 100 run metres in 32 brilliant minutes off the bench.
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However, he copped a large gash below his right knee, bringing his debut to an end in the 53rd minute.
So bad was the gash, that Ofahengaue required a surgical clean out on Thursday night.
Considering the severity of the gash, Ofahengaue needs time for it to heal properly to avoid a reopening.
Broncos head of performance Paul Devlin described the injury as "strange" and revealed the laceration went straight through to the patella.
"It is not a common rugby league injury to get a deep laceration on a patella," Devlin said in a club statement.
"They got him straight into hospital to minimise the infection.
"Dr Peter Meyers cleaned out the wound and stitched it up to stop anything else getting in there.
"Everything seems to be working fine and there doesn't seem to be any underlying problems that would keep him out for a long time."
"It is a really strange injury – not a common rugby league injury..." - the latest on Joe Ofahengaue:#Bronxnationhttps://t.co/MlqsErZW8U pic.twitter.com/MaSqP1L8Hq
— Brisbane Broncos (@brisbanebroncos) June 6, 2019
Devlin said Ofahengaue is on intravenous antibiotics with an eye on preventing further infection.
As a result, the newly-minted rep forward will have to watch his Broncos teammates from the sidelines, at the very least.
"He won't be available this week but we really won’t know until that wound heals up and we can check the function around the area," Devlin continued.
"He could be back next week in the best-case scenario, so we are positive about it, or it could be a number of weeks after that."
