Queensland debutant half Sam Walker announced himself as another Ipswich-made star in State of Origin despite the Maroons' controversial loss in Sydney.
In the build-up to the Maroons' heartbreaking 22-20 loss in Game 1 of the series, Walker had been compared to the great Allan Langer who ruled the roost in his debut series 39 years ago.
Some players would have been overcome by such a comparison. Walker embraced it as an honour and went out and dazzled with all the goodies in his box of tricks to get the Maroons out to a 20-0 lead.
When last year's player of the series Tom Dearden suffered an ankle injury there was great debate in Queensland about who would replace him.
