In front of a crowd of 87,122 at the MCG, the Blues took a 1-0 series lead after a hard-fought and fluctuating match that saw a number of fresh faces step up to the Origin challenge.
The Blues held onto a 8-6 lead at the break and fell behind early in the second half, but powered home to score the final three tries.
Rookies Latrell Mitchell, Tom Trbojevic and Josh Addo-Carr all crossed, as did fullback James Tedesco who was the Blues' best.
It was billed as the start of a new era in State of Origin.