A little bit of drama late in the game capped of an exciting Ampol State of Origin Game two, with Queensland taking the spoils after an impressive defensive effort in front of 52, 433 fans on home soil to see off the New South Wales Blues with a 32-6 victory.
Blues winger Josh Addo-Carr was binned in the final minute of the match for throwing a punch and both Jerome Luai and Reece Walsh sent off. This however did not douse the excitement felt by the Queensland fullback, beating his chest as he walked off the pitch triumphantly.
Reece Walsh, Daly Cherry-Evans and Lindsay Collins, starred for the Maroons as they wiped the Blues into oblivion. Although the maroons were a bit scrappy in attack, they made up for this in defense shutting down numerous NSW attacking plays, mostly infront of their goal line, gifting coach Billy Slater his second consecutive State of Origin series victory.
Earlier on in the match, Queensland were denied a try in the first 3 minutes, while NSW lost Tom “Turbo” Trebjovic with a torn pectoral, with doubts that he will not be able to complete the rest of the season. This prompted an unconventional shift in the Blues line up, with Damien Cook playing the rest of the match out of position in the centres and scoring the only NSW try of the match.
Queensland opened the scoring through Valentine Holmes, who capitalized off a loose ball following a Cherry-Evans special. Cowboys teammate, Murray Taulagi would follow suit in the 33rd minute with his own to go into the sheds up by 10.
Holmes showed his class yet again, scoring 2 minutes into the second half. With momentum fully on Queenslands side, the Hammer was next on the scoreboard, scoring off a Taulagi kick. Xavier Coates, who was given a call up after Selwyn Cobbo was ruled out of Game two due to injury, showed grit and class to get one for himself, and it was another Cowboy who sealed the match, picking a try after a Cook dropped ball in the NSW try line.