{"id":516538,"date":"2026-07-08T22:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/516538\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T22:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:36:14","slug":"new-south-wales-win-state-of-origin-decider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/516538\/","title":{"rendered":"New South Wales win State of Origin decider"},"content":{"rendered":"

NSW coach Laurie Daley has labelled Nathan Cleary a legend of modern-day rugby league after the halfback starred in a stunning 30-12 upset win over Queensland in the decisive third State of Origin game at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

In a victory that gives the under-fire Daley the last laugh, No. 7 Cleary helped the Blues to a surprise 18-0 lead by scoring two first-half tries and stripping the ball ahead of their third.<\/p>\n

Game-ending head injuries to veteran fullback James Tedesco and first-gamer Jack Bostock weakened the Blues, who were troubled by the injection of Maroons livewire Reece Walsh in the second half.<\/p>\n

Chasing points, the Maroons had a try chalked off that would have put them six points behind in the final 15 minutes, with the bunker ruling Max Plath had been offside chasing Sam Walker’s kick.<\/p>\n

Wally Lewis Medallist Cleary then nailed a penalty goal that made it a three-score game, all but putting the result beyond doubt.<\/p>\n

\"Nathan<\/p>\n

Nathan Cleary of the Blues (left) celebrates with teammates after scoring a try during Game 3 of the 2026 State of Origin between the Queensland Maroons and NSW Blues at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

“What he (Cleary) has done has been remarkable, consecutive premierships, and I don’t get why people want to take down champions,” Daley said.<\/p>\n

“He’s a champion, and he’s done some terrific things and why does he have to do something like he’s done for people to go, ‘Oh, you know, he’s not a bad player’. <\/p>\n

“It does my head in that type of stuff – he’s a legend of the game for what he’s done.”<\/p>\n

Daley also took a swing at critics of his coaching in the aftermath of a famous Blues victory.<\/p>\n

“It annoys me when I hear people talk about NSW not getting it, and they’ve got no passion for the jersey,” Daley said.<\/p>\n

“That’s two of the last three years we’ve won State of Origin with this group\u2026 I’m just so happy for the group because I know that was a performance that was coming.”<\/p>\n

The result marked only the Blues’ fourth victory in a decider at Suncorp Stadium from 14 attempts, and their first time winning consecutive deciders at the venue following their 2024 triumph.<\/p>\n

The victory came after the Blues were written off by all and sundry, having conceded 36 second-half points in a demoralising 20-point game-two loss.<\/p>\n

With last year’s series loss fresh in memory, coach Daley faced heavy scrutiny ahead of the decider.<\/p>\n

“There was so much being said about him, but we took the onus on us,” said Blues captain Isaah Yeo. <\/p>\n

“We understand that (criticism) comes with scrutiny when you don’t perform like you’d want to, but ultimately you win, it silences everything.”<\/p>\n

No player had been under more pressure to deliver in Brisbane than Cleary, for so long criticised for his track record in big Origin moments.<\/p>\n

The four-time premiership winner wasted little time silencing his doubters on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

After an error-prone start from the Maroons, Cleary had the Blues’ first try stepping inside Kurt Capewell at close range and gliding over.<\/p>\n

\"Cameron<\/p>\n

Cameron Murray of the Blues (left) celebrates with Reece Robson after scoring a try during Game 3 of the 2026 State of Origin between the Queensland Maroons and NSW Blues at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

Blues second-rower Liam Martin, back from a knee injury, burst through Cameron Munster and found Stephen Crichton, who flicked to Mark Nawaqanitawase ahead of Cleary’s second try.<\/p>\n

In the Maroons’ next set, Cleary stripped the ball from Selwyn Cobbo to put the Blues into position for another four-pointer through Cameron Murray.<\/p>\n

The Blues lost Tedesco in the final minute before half-time when the former captain clashed heads with Maroons second-rower Briton Nikora.<\/p>\n

Tolu Koula came on at fullback, but the Blues were later forced into another backline reshuffle when winger Bostock fell awkwardly contesting a kick.<\/p>\n

Walsh and Kalyn Ponga combined to give the Maroons a sniff, the pair helping Cobbo to a try and cutting the deficit to 10.<\/p>\n

But just as the Maroons were on the attack again, Jojo Fifita fumbled Walsh’s kick into the arms of Bradman Best, who ran 100 metres to score the Blues’ fourth.<\/p>\n

After Fifita atoned on the right, the Maroons thought they had a fourth try when Koula allowed a Walker kick to bounce up for Rob Toia.<\/p>\n

But the offside penalty against Plath thwarted the Maroons, and the Blues held on, with Hudson Young crossing late.<\/p>\n

“We just weren’t quite good enough tonight,” said Queensland coach Billy Slater. <\/p>\n

“I thought there was a fair bit of heart and we never gave up. We had our chances, but we made it pretty hard on ourselves.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NSW coach Laurie Daley has labelled Nathan Cleary a legend of modern-day rugby league after the halfback starred…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,111,139,577,69,213],"class_list":["post-516538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-australia","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nrl","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}