Queensland 12-30 NSW: Blues win State of Origin 2026 in Game 3 – as it happened

It will be up to smarter minds than me to unpick tonight’s clash and the series as a whole. One of those is Angus Fontaine, who has filed his match report, which is my cue to pour myself something cold and refreshing. Thanks for your company this series, I’ll see you back here soon. And that brings to a close a thrilling and incident-packed series. Quite how it fits into the Origin cannon I’m not quite sure. Game I was defined by the send off. Game II was a blowout. And the fallout from tonight may yet depend on whether Jack Bostock’s fingertips can be proven to have touched the ball in the coming hours and days. NSW may now go on a tear, but the amount of changes Laurie Daley made throughout the series demonstrates this is not a settled core group of players. However, they are blessed to possess Nathan Cleary, the footballer of his generation. Queensland began the series as underdogs, rarely turned to the man who near single-handedly won last year’s NRL grand final, and then underwhelmed as favourites at home. Although Billy Slater’s selections were more settled, an argument could be made that some of that was simply down to necessity and not supreme form or ability. Perhaps this is Origin at its purest? Two flawed teams laying everything on the line. That is now two out of three for NSW, and five from nine since 2018 and the end of that long era of Maroon dominance. Isaah Yeo performs his duties as captain, then moves over to his teammates, coaches, and families, before hoisting the shield to the sky as blue confetti cascades on to Queensland soil. Cameron Munster looks thoroughly dejected as he races through the list of people he has to thank. That was not the speech he would have expected to make before kick-off. Player of the match in game one and game three, leading his side to the shield, it’s no surprise Nathan Cleary has the Wally Lewis medal hanging around his neck. “Has that bunker footage been released? Maybe it wasn’t touched but surely that bunker vision has to be released?” I haven’t seen it yet Marlon Maton, but I can guarantee every frame will be dissected like the Zapruder footage tomorrow. “With or without the try which I didn’t see the knock-on but if I’m going to trust people who know a lot more about NRL then me, even without it still a commanding victory.” Absolutely Euan Scott. In the context of the flow of the game it was a massive moment, but NSW were thoroughly deserved winners. It was a chaotic encounter, one that was far from a classic from a pure footballing standpoint but full of incident nonetheless. The officiating will take centre stage north of the Tweed, but Queensland made too many individual errors to apply consistent pressure and remove the possibility the referee’s whistle might count against them. The Blues were quicker, slicker, and more disciplined all night, despite losing Tedesco and Bostock to HIAs and having to reshuffle an already much-changed backline on the fly. Laurie Daley has tears in his eyes. He puffs out his cheeks and releases a sigh of enormous relief. One of the most popular men in the sport was at risk of damaging his legacy with the way the Blues were tracking, but his side stood up handsomely in Brisbane and ran out worthy winners. 79 mins: Ponga gets dragged in goal following a huge chase from Crichton, Best and Barnett. Moses celebrates performatively like a Gladiator. NSW are relishing every second of this. 78 mins: Queensland kick long early in the set, almost look like picking up the pieces downfield but the ball comes loose on the right and Young can celebrate in front of the home fans. 77 mins: Barnet, Young, Martin, the Blues just pummel the midfield until the handover in the right corner. NSW are demonstrating a show of force now. This is an intimidating finale. 75 mins: NSW grind out of their red zone, reach 40m, and are handed a set restart at the ruck. The Blues are rewriting the script at Suncorp Stadium now. Second best for most of game one, outplayed in game two, and they have come to Brisbane and beaten Queensland in their back yard. Cobbo shows the toll of the night with a sloppy play-the-ball and NSW celebrate heartily, leaving no Queenslander in any doubt how much this means to them. 73 mins: Munster and Moses have a bit of a scuffle off the ball after the Queenslander hit the No 7 late and with intent after a long kick. It went unpunished. 70 mins: The Bostock knock-on call, now the Plath offside. It’s hard not to feel Queensland have not had the rub of the green. Frustrated, the Maroons lift in the tackle, and Cleary can take an age off the clock with a long range kick for goal. 69 mins: NSW settle things down up front, Cleary kicks to the right corner on the last, it comes back in Blue hands but Strange – deputising at right centre – is tackled and there’s a handover. “Queenslander!” bellows the Suncorp crowd as the Maroons try to run out of their own half again through Walsh. They think their hero deserves a penalty but there’s nothing doing. Walker hoists a bomb on the last – and for the third time tonight it’s allowed to bounce – Koula looks oblivious at fullback, and nobody near him is in their regular position. The Steeden bobbles into space – and Toia is first to it, steaming on it like a freight train and he crosses! But now the Bunker is bringing play back to look at the kick chase for offside. Plath is about two inches ahead of the kicker, and he plays no part in the kick chase, but he is within ten metres of the action as Toia scores, so the try is rubbed off. Deary me. I can only imagine what The Courier Mail is going to look like tomorrow. 67 mins: Queensland have to make something happen – and Walsh and Nanai almost do that – but the ball goes to ground on the 40m line as they try to run out of defence. 65 mins: Queensland are still in this, just, but those three missed kicks are proving costly. Meanwhile, Ethan Strange has been activated as the fifth interchange because Jack Bostock has been ruled out with a category 1 HIA. Tino and Plath set the drive up under the crossbar. The ball gets shipped out to Walsh on the right edge but he’s kept in check. Queensland go that way again, Walker throws a mongrel bounce pass, but Toia does brilliantly to gather it, step outside Best, evade Murray, and shovel the pass out to Fifita to dive over in the right corner. Walker misses from the right touchline! Queensland now 0/3 off the boot.