NSW Blues defeat Queensland Maroons 34-10 in State of Origin II to set up series decider

New South Wales has kept alive its hopes of winning a third straight State of Origin series with a convincing 34-10 victory over Queensland in Game Two at Sydney’s Olympic stadium.

The Maroons held a 1-0 series lead heading into Wednesday evening’s clash, courtesy of last week’s 18-14 win in Adelaide, but they were dominated by a ruthless Blues outfit, which scored six tries to two.

The Blues conceded the first try of the match, however they then controlled proceedings to set up an enticing State of Origin III at Brisbane’s Lang Park next Wednesday.

“We focused tonight mostly on effort-based teamwork,” Blues halfback Nathan Cleary told ABC Sport.

“We had a pretty simple game plan, but I think we executed it really well.”

The Maroons were dealt a blow in only the second minute of play when Cameron Munster left the field following a head knock.

The talismanic five-eighth failed his head injury assessment and did not return to the field. His departure was felt as the match wore on, with the visitors noticeably missing his playmaking ability.

Among the storylines of Origin I was how the Maroons lifted themselves off the canvas after trailing 10-0 at half-time.

They were 18-4 behind at the break in Sydney and while Wayne Bennett’s half-time address in Adelaide may have sparked the turnaround in the series opener, the Blues were awake to any threat of a Maroons’ comeback this time around.

It only took three minutes of the second half for the Blues to extend their lead, with NRL Dally M medallist Jack Wighton crashing over.

Only 10 metres from the Maroons’ line, the Blues ran left with five-eighth Cody Walker firing off a cut-out pass to Wighton, who slipped past two tacklers and beat a third defender to find the try line.

The Wighton try was converted by Cleary and the Blues added their fifth four-pointer of the match when winger Daniel Tupou crossed out wide.

Tempers flared as the second half approached its midway point. Following a melee, the Blues’ Payne Haas and his Maroons opponent Tino Fa’asuamaleaui were sent to the sin-bin to cool their heels.

A late Maroons fightback appeared a possibility when Josh Papalii scored in the 63rd minute and Valentine Holmes added the extras, but it was not to be.

Addo-Carr registered his second try when he chased through on a deft left-footed grubber from Walker that left Maroons winger Phillip Sami well beaten.

The try, scored in the right-hand corner, iced a dominant display from the Blues, who are looking to add to their series wins in 2018 and 2019 under coach Brad Fittler.

Blues get on top in first half

Despite losing Munster soon after kick-off, the Maroons were the first to post points on the scoreboard in the eighth minute of play.

As the Maroons attacked the Blues’ left-edge defence deep inside opposition territory, captain Daly Cherry-Evans used a second-man play to find centre Dane Gagai charging towards the line.

Gagai was halted by the Blues defence but he was able to slip away a neat one-handed offload to winger Xavier Coates, who used his superb athleticism to leap high and dive over to establish the Maroons’ 4-0 lead.

The Coates try seemed to trigger the Blues into action, however, and they replied on the scoreboard 10 minutes later through Walker.

It was the Blues’ turn to put the Maroons’ left-edge defence under pressure and when Cleary found Walker with a well-timed pass, the South Sydney playmaker did the rest.

He spun out of a Kurt Capewell tackle and crossed the stripe. With Cleary’s conversion, the Blues led 6-4.

Makeshift Blues captain James Tedesco used his brilliant footwork to post a second converted try five minutes later — again down the right edge in attack — before Addo-Carr touched down for his side’s third try in the shadows of half-time.

Cleary’s third conversion of the evening gave the home side their commanding 14-point lead at the break.

Read how State of Origin II unfolded in our blog.