Game 1 of the 2022 State of Origin series kicks off on Wednesday night, and is set to be a cracker.

The battle between the NSW Blues and QLD Maroons never seems to disappoint... unless it's 2021 and you're a Queenslander. Nevertheless, there is a special kind of excitement that comes with the greatest rivalry in Australian sport.

We have Billy Slater up against Brad Fittler in the coaches box, Junior Paulo and Payne Haas facing off against Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Josh Papalii and that isn't even the best of the match-ups.

While every game has its features whether it's a decider in Game 3 or a pivotal Game 2, there is a special electricity that comes with the unknown of the first game in a series.

There have been some fantastic games in the 42 years the series has been running. Most of the greats, like James Tedesco scoring in the final seconds of 2019's Game 3, come in series-winning games, but what about series openers?

Here are ten of the greatest Game 1s in State of Origin History.

5. 2004 - Shaun Timmins field goal leads Blues to glory

As a NSW Blues fan, Game 1s don't get any better than this.

The first State of Origin match played under 'Golden Point' rule, it's funny they were very much needed as the NSW Blues slotted a field goal to win the match in the 85th minute.

Down 8-4 with only twenty minutes left, it was Scott Prince who stood up for the Maroons. Cutting the NSW defence with a lovely left foot step and then throwing a soaring pass out to Brent Tate on the edge, it was looking like yet another Queensland comeback.

Nonetheless, it remained 8-8 when, in the 78th minute, it looked like Craig Gower would be the NSW Hero, with a clean look at a field goal less than twenty metres out. As the ball slipped out of his grasp, it looked like Game One might have too.

By now NSW had learnt you have to take every chance if you want to beat the Maroons.

When Billy Slater forced a drop-out and then readied himself for a drop kick from 35 metres out, it looked like a Blues fan's worst nightmare. However, their captain Danny Buderus rushed out of the line, charged the ball down and sent the game to Golden Point.

Just over two minutes later, it was Buderus who fired the ball back to Shaun Timmins, just inside the 40m line, who fired the ball between the posts.