BRISBANE, Australia — New South Wales produced one of the great State of Origin boilovers, defeating Queensland 30-12 in Wednesday night's deciding Game 3 at Suncorp Stadium to claim the 2026 series 2-1, silencing a raucous Brisbane crowd that had expected the Maroons to reclaim the shield on home soil.

The result capped a remarkable turnaround for a NSW team that had entered the decider under significant pressure, having been outplayed in the series opener at Accor Stadium in Sydney before suffering a heavy defeat in Melbourne in Game 2, a loss that included conceding 36 second-half points and saw coach Laurie Daley pilloried across Australian media in the lead-up to the deciding match.

The hero of the night was halfback Nathan Cleary, who scored two tries and converted five from five kicks, a performance that earned him the Wally Lewis Medal as player of the series. Cleary entered the decider with his Origin reputation under scrutiny after missing an Origin-record 10 tackles during NSW's heavy Game 2 defeat, despite already holding four NRL premiership rings with the Penrith Panthers. He approached the match with a simple, one-word strategy. "We were written off. We came together as a group and rallied around each other," Cleary told Nine after the match, reflecting on the pressure the squad had faced heading into the decider.

NSW controlled the contest from the opening exchanges, with Cleary steering the team through a dominant opening stanza alongside........

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