A Mitchell Moses masterclass spurred the Blues to a 38-18 win over the Maroons at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday night to set-up an Origin decider in three weeks in the Queensland capital.
The recalled halfback assisted on four tries as the Blues enjoyed a perfect opening forty pouring on six tries to take a 34-0 lead into the sheds.
It took a little over 10 minutes for the Blues to draw first blood through a charging Liam Martin before Panthers teammate Brian To’o joined him on the scoresheet soon after courtesy of a sweet Latrell Mitchell flick pass.
What followed was a Blue onslaught with everything that Michael Maguire’s men touched turning to gold as Queensland watched on with an uncharacteristic look of stunned resignation.
Zac Lomax put together his best AFL impression to score off a Moses kick in the 23rd minute, To’o pounced on a Moses grubber for his second in the 26th minute, Mitchell dove over to finish off a play sparked by an Angus Crichton offload in the 32nd minute and Lomax nabbed his second off a right-side shift in the 38th minute.
It proved the most dominant opening forty in Origin history with NSW dominating possession, yardage, territory and, most importantly, the scoreboard to virtually seal the result before the second half whistle had sounded.
Tensions boiled over in the second half; Stephen Crichton and Daly Cherry-Evans came together after the former was penalised for grappling the latter before Liam Martin and Patrick Carrigan were both binned and Mitchell was placed on report for a high shot.
Queensland sweetened up the scoreboard with tries to Jeremiah Nanai and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow whilst it was 12-on-12 before debutant Dylan Edwards found a try an hour in.
Moses’ near-perfect night was rewarded with a Player of the Match nod whilst Angus Crichton (174m, 9 tb) and Payne Haas (186m, 31 tk, 0 missed) stamped their authority early and caused headaches for the Maroons for much of the night.
Edwards (1 try, 1 assist, 203 m, 8 tb) was incredible on debut whilst club teammate To’o (1 try, 175 m, 7 tb) was at his usual high standard.
The scene of the series now shifts to Brisbane with NSW looking to win their first Suncorp decider in nearly two decades.
