Sydneysiders must’ve sensed a win coming, with a record number of viewers in the harbour city tuning in to watch the State of Origin opener.

Wednesday night’s thrilling 12-8 victory at Suncorp Stadium attracted an audience of 2.487 million across Australia’s five major cities and 4.058 million nationwide – 1.228 million of them from Sydney.

According to OzTam’s ratings, 747,000 watched in Brisbane, 426,000 in Melbourne and 86,000 in Adelaide. The game was not screened in Perth.

It was biggest Sydney audience for an Origin match and the highest-rating game one since official ratings began, the Nine Network said on Thursday.

It ranked third among the most-watched Origin matches of all time, behind last year’s decider and game three in 2012 when Cooper Cronk sealed Queensland’s seventh straight series win with a 40-metre field goal in the dying minutes.

“This was a special night in Origin history and the players deserve congratulations for the spectacle they provided for the fans at Suncorp Stadium and the millions of viewers around the world,” NRL chief executive Dave Smith said in a statement.

NSW’s gutsy triumph has set them up well for a potential drought-breaking series win at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on June 18.