Daly Cherry-Evans' masterclass, brutal truth for Nicho Hynes: Good, bad, ugly of State of Origin I

😃 The good: Daly Cherry-Evans performance comes at perfect time

😔 The bad: Nicho Hynes facing the axe amid threat from Mitchell Moses

😡 The ugly: Nate Myles' ugly sideline spray for shattered Joseph Suaalii

Daly Cherry-Evans' man-of-the-match performance in Origin I comes at an interesting time in his NRL career. DCE's talks with Manly over his future have been put on hold while the Origin series plays out.

The veteran halfback has a year to run on his deal and is no hurry to decide what he will be doing from 2027 and beyond. The Sea Eagles are anxious for a decision so they can start future proofing the No.7 position, but are also mindful of coming across as too pushy.

Cherry-Evans is extremely meticulous and controlling when it comes to contract dealings and knows his worth. He won’t be rushed and he won’t be low-balled.

Producing performances like he did in Queensland's big win on Wednesday night only strengthens his position at the negotiating table. He may be 35, but the way he's playing there is nothing to suggest he can’t keep doing it for another two or three years.

He's earned the right to tell Manly what he wants to do. It won’t be the other way around.

You could tell Blues great Andrew Johns didn’t want to say the words, but it was clear what he was thinking moments after full-time in the Origin series opener. Nicho Hynes must go.

It’s not that the NSW playmaker turned in a complete shocker in his run-on Origin debut. It was just that he was largely ineffective.

Hynes busted his gut and tried everything to lift his 12-man side, but a try assist from a neat cross-field kick to Zac Lomax was the only real highlight. And it's not as if the Blues didn't have plenty of quality ball in quality field position. They just didn’t do a great deal with it.

"There's going to be a lot of talk about the halves…whether they go with Nicho and Jarome (Luai) again or whether they go with Mitchell Moses," Johns said as he looked ahead to Game II. "It probably depends on how Michael Maguire sees his team attacking in Melbourne.

"I thought the (NSW) kicking game was inconsistent and what we saw of Moses last week...when he shot the lights out in a nine out of 10 (performance), was up there with the best in the competition." Moses only has to stay healthy to be picked for Origin II in Melbourne.

Nate Myles, you are a deadset fool. Whatever you think of Joseph Suaalii's tackle on Reece Walsh – send off or not – there was no need for Queensland assistant coach Myles to give the young Rooster a mouthful as he headed to the dressing room.

Nate, old mate, do you not think the kid was hurting enough? On rugby league's biggest stage, he'd just been sent off seven minutes into his Origin debut.

It cost his team any chance of victory. He may never pull on a blue jersey again. But you thought it was okay to tell him "enjoy your f**king debut" three times?

This from an Origin veteran, working in an official capacity, to a 20-year-old kid. The incident was mentioned in the ground manager's report and Myles is expected to receive an official warning.

"He got it wrong and it’s unfortunate, it’s not a good look for the game," Myles said after the game. "It’s an unfortunate look for the game." So was your spray.