Megan Wellens
Sports Journalist @MegWellensX
State of Origin 2026: Queensland 12-30 New South Wales - Blues claim famous victory to win series
New South Wales bounce back from a poor game two to wrap up a remarkable 30-12 victory in State of Origin decider in Brisbane; Nathan Cleary scored two tries and added four conversions and a penalty in a player-of-the-match performance
Last Updated: 08/07/26 1:54pm
New South Wales pulled off a remarkable 30-12 victory over Queensland in the State of Origin decider at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
The Blues had staged the most almighty comeback in game one for a dramatic 22-20 victory but then Queensland hit back with a dominant win in game two to set up the mouth-watering, winner-takes-all encounter.
New South Wales had a comprehensive 18-4 half-time lead thanks to a Nathan Cleary double and Cameron Murray effort, the former converting all three.
- State of Origin game one: Blues snatch victory after Ponga's dismissal
- State of Origin game two: Queensland level series as Cobbo scores hat-trick
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Queensland fired back through Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow for their only points of the half.
Selwyn Cobbo and Joji Fifita crossed for the the Maroons during the second period but with both efforts unconverted, and New South Wales adding more points through Bradman Best, Hudson Young and player of the match Cleary, the Blues wrapped up a famous win.
They are the fourth New South Wales team to win a decider at the Suncorp Stadium, the home ground of Queensland.
Alongside his player-of-the-match performance, Cleary also picked up the Wally Lewis medal for player of the series.
New South Wales use underdogs tag as fuel for famous victory
A bone-crunching, bruising encounter was expected in this decider and, of course, that is what was delivered as the Maroons and Blues battled for Origin history.
While Queensland were the favourites heading into the contest, the first half was all about New South Wales as Cleary used the criticism he received as fuel for a performance to remember.
Thanks to three handling errors from Billy Slater's side in the space of five minutes, New South Wales were piling on the pressure and got their reward on the 15th minute when Isaah Yeo came up with a quick play the ball. Off the back of it, Cleary stepped through and reached over to score before converting his own effort for a 6-0 lead.
Queensland tried to get back into the battle but after giving away a set restart, New South Wales pounced. Sending it out to the right edge, Angus Crichton stepped through and found Mark Nawaqanitawase. The winger then sent the pass back inside for Cleary to add his second.
Just three minutes later, the onslaught continued. After Cleary, who was putting on a masterclass, came up with a one-on-one ball steal against Selwyn Cobbo, Murray spun and barged over from close range to score. Cleary sent over his third conversion for an 18-0 lead. Queensland were simply stunned.
The Maroons did manage to hit back and get on the scoreboard five minutes before half-time when Nawaqanitawase knocked on a high kick. Queensland shifted it to the left edge on the last to allow Tabuai-Fidow to step around Crichton and go in for his 14th Origin try.
However, Sam Walker missed the conversion, his first miss in a Maroon jersey, which gave New South Wales an 18-4 advantage at the break.
The Blues did have some adversity going into the second half after losing full-back James Tedesco to a head clash while he made a tackle but ultimately, it did not show.
Queensland needed to come out in the second 40 and ensure they scored first. They did that when Cobbo's kick ricocheted and allowed him to pick up and go over. Once again the conversion was missed, this time through Reece Walsh, to bring scores to 18-8.
Just seven minutes later as Queensland tried to put the Blues under the pump, Best put a dagger through the hearts of the Queensland faithful when he picked up a bouncing kick and raced the length of the field to score. Cleary continued his perfection with the boot to move his side 24-8 in front with 20 to play.
Queensland kept trying to make a game of it, going over again through Fifita on the edge, but with Walker's conversion attempt wide once again, they could only bring themselves within two converted tries.
After the Maroons then had a try chalked off for players offside in the build-up, a penalty to the Blues had Cleary calling for the kicking tee as he sent one sailing over for a 26-12 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
With no time remaining in the contest, Young put the cherry on top as he played the perfect supporting role and picked up the pop pass to slide in. This time, with the series won, Cleary did not call for the kicking tee as his side soaked in the moment of 30-12 Origin series victory.
Cleary: Never write off a team led by a champion!
Player of the match and series Nathan Cleary:
"It is unbelievable. This group of players are just freaks, I love playing alongside them.
"The belief, we were written off, we came together as a group and I am just pumped.
"A lot of people wrote Laurie [Daley] off but you never write off champions."
Munster: We will bounce back
Queensland captain Cameron Munster:
"It is always a great spectacle when it is a decider in Brisbane. It is a disappointing result but we will be back next year.
"To Laurie and Yeo and the Blues players, thank you so much for this series.
"To Billy [Slater] and the boys, I know you will be hurting.
"We will be back next series and we will go again."
Super League 2026 - upcoming key dates
- Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
- Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
- Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
- Grand Final: October 3
Sky Sports will show every game of the Super League live this season, including two matches each round exclusively live. The remaining five matches will be broadcast on Sky Sports+.
