Updated July 8, 2026 — 10:23pm,first published 9:09pm
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We rate the performances of every player who took the field in Wednesday night’s State of Origin decider at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
New South Wales
1. James Tedesco
Led the Blues’ go-forward with a combination of kick returns, dummy-half scoots and old-fashioned hit-ups – then copped a head clash with Briton Nikora at the end of the first half and failed his HIA. 7/10
2. Jack Bostock
A mixed night for the Origin debutant, who spilled an early chance with the tryline wide open, and dropped a bomb late in the first half (and possibly knocked on in the lead-up to Best’s try). Also had a great escape from his in-goal. Went off after a head knock in the final 20 minutes. 5.5
3. Bradman Best
Was beaten a couple of times defending Robert Toia early on but more than made up for it with a 95-metre solo try, outpacing then palming off teammate Kalyn Ponga on the way to the line. 7.5
4. Stephen Crichton
Made the line break that led to Cleary’s second try, and forced a dropout with a classy grubber. Couldn’t stop Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow on the way to the tryline but otherwise defended well. 6.5
5. Mark Nawaqanitawase
Missed a tricky try-scoring chance when he couldn’t grab a Nathan Cleary kick one-handed, then threw a lovely pass for Cleary’s second try. Made a couple of errors defusing kicks in the second half. 6
6. Mitchell Moses
Showed why his long kicking is the best in the business with a series of booming clearances, getting the Blues out of trouble when they were camped down their own end early. Racked up an enormous 650 kick metres. 7
7. Nathan Cleary
Silenced the packed crowd with the game’s first try, stepping past two defenders to score with a strong solo effort. Then finished a sweeping team try to score his second. Made a one-on-one strip ahead of Cam Murray’s try, kicked five goals, and also had a couple of dangerous bombs that forced Queensland errors. 9
8. Payne Haas
Made some big carries through the middle to give NSW the momentum ahead of Cleary’s first try, then started bouncing off defenders for fun. His offloads caused real problems for the Maroons. 8.5
9. Reece Robson
A sharper performance than the opening two games, with decent service and four good dummy-half darts. 7
10. Mitchell Barnett
Took the opening hit-up and was the Blues’ busiest forward in the early stages, and returned late to finish off the game well. 7
11. Hudson Young
Gave away the game’s first two penalties, with a lifting tackle and a high shot, but worked hard and was the first NSW forward to pass 100 run metres. Scored a bonus try as the final siren sounded. 8
12. Liam Martin
A welcome return to the Origin stage. Made a strong charge and offload to Crichton to help set up Cleary’s second, flattened Toia with a crunching tackle, and was strong throughout. 8
13. Isaah Yeo
Did the little things right as always – ran hard, led the tackle count, and had the quickest play-the-balls of the Blues’ starting big men. 7
14. Cameron Murray
Again provided spark off the bench, offloading after his first carry of the game, and showed great strength to score the Blues’ third try. 8
15. Addin Fonua-Blake
Came on after half an hour and made some strong carries and quick play-the-balls, setting up a line break for Best. 6.5
16. Haumole Olakau’atu
Unused.
17. Blayke Brailey
Came on for the final half hour. Error-free but unable to make a significant impact. 5
18. Ethan Strange
Replaced Jack Bostock after a head knock in the final 20 minutes but had limited involvement. 5
19. Tolutau Koula
Replaced Tedesco at fullback in the final minute of the first half. Made some nice runs but couldn’t defuse the kick that led to Selwyn Cobbo’s try and let a bomb bounce that almost led to a Robert Toia try. 5
Queensland
1. Kalyn Ponga
The Maroons’ most dangerous player with the Steeden in the first half, despite being flattened in a heavy tackle by Young midway through the half. Crucial miss on a runaway Bradman Best as the Blues extended their lead in the second half. 6.5/10
2. Selwyn Cobbo
Came back to earth with a thud after a dream start to the series. Made several crucial first-half errors, including having the ball stripped by Nathan Cleary before the Blues’ third try. Redeemed himself a little with a fortuitous second-half try. 5
3. Robert Toia
Reasonably quiet in the first half but made some telling contributions in the second, including a try-saving tackle on Mitch Moses before laying on a try for Jojo Fifita and having his own four-pointer disallowed. 6.5
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
Came to life just before half-time, scoring the Maroons’ lone try that cut the deficit to 18-4. Quiet second half. 5.5
5. Jojo Fifita
Knocked on a difficult Cleary first-half bomb but otherwise solid and scored his second Origin try. 5.5
6. Cameron Munster
Great first long kick put his team on the front foot, but made an uncustomary miss on a hard-running Liam Martin in the lead-up to Cleary’s second try. 6
7. Sam Walker
Quietest match of the series. Would love to have a few of his kicks over again, including a poor clearing effort straight to Tedesco. Missed part of the second half due to a HIA. 6
8. Thomas Flegler
Helped contain Payne Haas early on before coming off for a rest after 17 minutes. Returned in the 51st minute and toiled manfully. 5.5
9. Harry Grant
Branded a cheat by Phil Gould during the week, but the Maroons wouldn’t swap him for any other No.9. 6.5
10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui
Tried hard but was well contained by the Blues pack in his two stints on the field. 6
11. Briton Nikora
Poleaxed Tedesco in a head clash, then gave him a gobful, but otherwise fairly inconspicuous. 5
12. Kurt Capewell
Not his best Origin match. Cleary slipped past him easily for the opening try, and he knocked on twice early in the second half before being subbed. 5
13. Reuben Cotter
Typically solid, despite a rare simple handing error inside his half after 11 minutes. 6
14. Max Plath
Came on in the 23rd minute and played the remainder of the match, but didn’t make the same impact as he did in Origin II. 5.5
15. Patrick Carrigan
Unused.
16. Jeremiah Nanai
Played the last 30 minutes, but apart from headbutting a Mitchell Moses kick was another Maroon who didn’t make much of a mark. 5
17. Trent Loiero
Entered the fray in the 17th minute and while he didn’t put a foot wrong, was overshadowed by the Blues back-rowers. 5.5
18. Reece Walsh
Introduced in the 54th minute and looked lively but didn’t have the impact the Maroons would have hoped. 5
Related Article
19. Murray Taulagi
Unused.
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Default avatarPhil Mitchell is a desk editor at The Sydney Morning Herald.From our partners