While Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans thought the Queenslanders were guilty of going sideways in the first half of Origin I at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night, the halfback said Papalii wasn't to blame for that.

The Canberra Raiders prop provided plenty of go-forward in the opening 20 minutes as the Maroons dominated possession, but they struggled to convert that into points.

Queensland supercoach Wayne Bennett revealed Papalii was so relaxed he spent most of the build-up asleep as the banana benders endured a massive day of travel to and from the Sunshine State on game day.

He had a kip on the plane. Another on the bus. And the world's best front-rower revealed he grabbed one last one in the hotel and almost missed the pre-game team meeting.

"I had a three-hour nap before the game. Lucky Dunamis Lui called me there, because I would've been late for the team meeting," Papalii laughed.

"Obviously well rested. I've had two weeks off since our last Raiders game and I was pretty keen to play."

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So keen he ran for 111 metres and made 27 tackles.

"I thought he played well. He slept all the way down on the plane and then we got on the bus and he went to sleep again," Bennett chuckled.

"Obviously expecting a late night."

The Maroons stunned the highly fancied NSW Blues 18-14 to pinch the series opener, despite trailing 10-0 at half-time with eight debutants in the side.

But Bennett rallied his troops during the half-time break as they took full advantage of the wind at their backs in the second stanza.

Cherry-Evans said they were guilty of going sideways, rather than being more direct through the middle of the park.

But he said that certainly wasn't due to Papalii, who got through plenty of work in the opening exchanges and again at the end as the kept NSW at bay.

"It certainly wasn't his fault mate. He was very direct. He's obviously the leader of the pack there," Cherry-Evans said.

"He's the most-experienced forward we've got. I thought he did exactly what he's done best for Queensland and that's go forward.

"He toughened up our middle. He was great."

Now Papalii has his sights set on ensuring there's no repeat of last years' Origin campaign.

The Queenslanders claimed game one in 2019 as well, only to go on to lose the series to the Blues 2-1.

He felt there were lessons to take from a year ago when the Maroons were thrashed in Origin II in Perth to level the series, before the Blues snatched a thrilling decider.

"Massive [win]. NSW is obviously all class eh. We can't fall asleep on that. We definitely know they'll come out next week, next Wednesday is going to be a lot tougher," Papalii said.

"We were in this position last year. We blew it over in Perth and hopefully we don't do the same.

"We were just shit in Perth. We just didn't turn up with the mindset to play tough. We can't afford to do that next week as well.

"NSW is obviously a class outfit and if we think we just have to turn up next week then we've got another thing coming."

STATE OF ORIGIN II

Wednesday: NSW Blues v Queensland Maroons at Sydney Olympic Stadium, 8.10pm.