The Blues didn’t just have to beat Queensland. They had to beat themselves

May 28, 2026 — 5:00am

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Twenty-three minutes to go, 16 points to make up. After Kalyn Ponga’s contentious send-off, 13 New South Welshmen had all the time in the world to beat 12 exhausted Queenslanders. All the time in the world. So it looked.

Maybe more challenging was that NSW also had to get the better of themselves.

The try that could have sparked the comeback was disallowed thanks to a clumsy obstruction.

A four-man overlap was wasted by a sloppy pass. A penalty was given away in attack for passing the ball off the ground. Another pass hit a teammate, who wasn’t watching, in the back. For 21 of those 23 minutes, the Blue jersey collectively threw up all over itself.

But in spite of themselves, they did it. Nathan Cleary, whose night had been following a too-familiar Origin trajectory, produced a 40-20 kick that turned the tide.

He scored himself, darting through a gap near the posts. Then, with all but two minutes of overwhelming advantage having ebbed away, Cleary put a kick up into the rainy........

© The Sydney Morning Herald