They may have lost the series for the tenth time in the past eleven years, but New South Wales managed to send Paul Gallen into Origin retirement a winner of sorts, defeating Queensland 18-14 to avoid being whitewashed.
The Blues’ series defeat meant they had nothing to play for, but it allowed them to experiment with their side with a view of planning for the future and also attempting to plot the Maroons’ downfall for the 2017 series.
Coach Laurie Daley, who may have won a stay of execution thanks to the dead rubber victory, pulled off a massive position switch by starting Matt Moylan at the unusual position of five-eighth.
This saw Jack Bird, who along with halves partner James Maloney has been instrumental in the Sharks’ 13-game winning streak, start on the bench, with the anticipation that he would be unleashed later in the game.
The Maroons would score first after just five minutes when Greg Inglis touched down in the corner, however the unsuccessful conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston, one of two missed for the night, would see them lead by just 4-0.
Moments later Tyson Frizell would touch down for the Blues, with James Maloney’s successful conversion attempt seeing them take the lead 6-4. Then, Maroons halfback Cooper Cronk would be sin-binned for a professional foul with ten minutes to go, reducing Kevin Walters’ side to twelve for the rest of the first half.
After Cronk came on a few seconds after the rest of the team came out for the start of the second half, Andrew Fifita would score to put the Blues ahead 12-4, and from there it was though that they would run away with the game.
However, Fifita was binned for taking out Gavin Cooper shortly after the Maroons debutant had pegged a try back for the champions, sparking a brawl and leaving the Blues to play one man down for the next ten minutes.
Despite the disadvantage there would be no score for either side until with less than ten minutes remaining Darius Boyd pounced for the Maroons after Josh Mansour misjudged a high kick from Cooper Cronk.
Again Johnathan Thurston would miss the conversion attempt from an easy angle and after James Tedesco was brought down by Cronk just metres out from the tryline, Michael Jennings scored on the last play of the game to put the Blues in front and ensure they’d avoid the embarrassment of losing the series 3-0.
Fittingly, retiring captain Paul Gallen took the conversion attempt and nailed his first ever (and most likely only) shot at goal in his professional rugby league career, giving the game its final scoreline of 18-14 in the Blues’ favour.
The 34-year-old leaves the Origin arena as one of the state’s most decorated players, but with only one series victory to show for it – 2014.
The Blues’ series victory that year, their first since 2005, was set up with an against-the-odds win in the opening game in Brisbane and an unforgettable victory in the second game in Sydney.
It was one, however, that was well deserved and without it the Maroons would have matched the St George Dragons’ efforts of half a century ago in winning something for eleven consecutive years.
While Gallen went out a winner, retiring rival Corey Parker was denied the perfect retirement gift, and that was a first Maroons whitewash since 2010, which they came very close to achieving until they lost it on the final play of the game.
After the Blues completed their lap of honour it was left to Queensland captain Cameron Smith to lift the trophy in front of only the Maroons fans who had travelled down to Sydney to see their team win yet another State of Origin series.
All up, the Maroons scored 46 points to the Blues’ 38 across the three matches, making this one of the closest series in recent history. To put that into perspective, the Maroons scored a whopping 52 points in Game III alone last year.
Smith was named the Wally Lewis Medallist for being the best player this series.
With State of Origin over for another year, it will remain to be seen whether Laurie Daley will remain as Blues coach for a fifth year, as many believed he would not survive beyond this series had they lost the dead rubber match.
Winning Game III should at least boost his chances of remaining in the hot seat for another twelve months, but he knows that the time for excuses is well and truly over and it’s a sure bet that he may have already started plotting the Maroons’ downfall for the 2017 series, of which there will be two games in Brisbane.
That will be the major obstacle towards the Blues winning just their second series victory since 2005, though it must actually be noted that three of their last four series victories have come with only one game in Sydney in those years.
Focus now turns to the run home, with Round 19 kicking off tomorrow night with a mid-table clash between the St George Illawarra Dragons and Gold Coast Titans at Kogarah Oval.
And with his Origin career over, Paul Gallen will now turn his focus towards leading the ladder-leading Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to a maiden premiership. His side will start favourites to win a 14th straight match when they tackle the struggling Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium this Monday night.
To finish off, congratulations to both sides, firstly the Queensland Maroons for winning their tenth series victory in the past eleven years, and to the New South Wales Blues for salvaging the series with an 18-14 victory in the final game.
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