Maroons deny NSW

BRISBANE: There’s no such thing as a dead rubber in State of Origin. Not to Queensland.
As critics lined up to deliver their last rites, a desperate Maroons side finally came to life to sabotage New South Wales’ (NSW) hopes of their first series sweep in 21 years with a 20-18 game three boilover last night.
After leading 8-6 at half-time, Queensland held on for victory on the Gold Coast to inject some much-needed pride in the Maroons jersey with hooker Ben Hunt scoring a second-half double.
Latrell Mitchell had a chance to lock up the scores in the 78th minute but his bold 50-metre penalty kick fell short as the “Queenslander” chant reverberated around Cbus Super Stadium.
The Maroons then appeared to vent their frustration on NSW on the stroke of full-time with a melee breaking out, resulting in Blues prop Junior Paulo being placed on report.
The question ahead of game three was not whether a dominant NSW would win, it was by how much.
The once-mighty Maroons juggernaut which had been the Ampol State of Origin benchmark by winning 11 of 12 series, including eight straight, were on their knees.
Queensland were set to become the first Maroons outfit to lose all three Origin games on home soil after a record breaking 50-6 loss in Townsville and 26-0 humbling in game two — the first time they had been held scoreless at spiritual home Suncorp Stadium.
Queensland’s leadership and culture were questioned in a disastrous series that included Ronaldo Multialo’s eligibility drama and capped by Jai Arrow’s exit just days before Origin three for a team hotel biosecurity bubble breach.
However, the knives out for rookie coach Paul Green may be shelved for now after conjuring an upset against a NSW side that can still lay claim to being one of the Blues’ greatest.
They may have fallen at the final hurdle after a match featuring three tries apiece but NSW still technically pulled off the most dominant series victory with a 68-point difference over the hosts, surpassing the Blues class of 2000’s margin of 62 — their last whitewash.
But that may be little consolation to Blues mentor Brad Fittler after NSW threatened to break Queensland hearts again last night. – NRL