Ruthless Maroons make NSW pay in Origin

It was just one mistake, but what a price NSW were made to pay in State of Origin II at Suncorp Stadium.

After putting Queensland under immense pressure in the opening half hour of the match with fast play-the-balls and in-your-face defence the Blues would’ve felt a game-changing breakthrough wasn’t far away.

They were right, it was just a breakthrough for their opponents.

Centre Michael Jennings lost possession after a big tackle by his opposite number Justin O’Neill and then threw a speculative pass to Josh Mansour.

The winger couldn’t handle the ball and Queensland’s Dane Gagai pounced.

The Maroons flyer, who came into the match under an injury cloud and with his quad heavily strapped, sprinted clear from his own 20 metre line.

Running out of gas as he approached the line, Gagai was felled by a desperate Tyson Frizzell ankle tap but just managed to cross the line before Blake Ferguson could come across to bundle him into touch.

In an instant Queensland were, once again, back on top in an Origin clash and another NSW team – for all their dominance – were staring down the barrel of another series defeat.

Just to prove there were no ill-effects from his long dash Gagai stuck the knife in further in the second half, grasping a high pass to duck over out wide for his double.

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