Queensland coach Kevin Walters says New South Wales has risen to the Maroons level after a tight 6-4 loss in Sydney at ANZ Stadium.

The teams are now preparing for Game II at Suncorp next Wednesday.

“You’re not so much worried about losing but just getting away to a good start,” Walters said.

“If you have a bad performance in Game One it can really ruin your series. We won fortunately and they didn’t win but their series is alive because of their performance in Game One.

“They’ll get a lot of confidence out of what they did and likewise with us but we know if we don’t get better we’re going to get beaten.

“I think they’ve risen to our level, it’s up to our guys to go again. We’ve got to go again otherwise we’ll get beaten on Wednesday week.”