Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

State of Origin: Queensland maintain domination after holding off New South Wales fightback

Queensland 26 New South Wales 16: Victory in match two secures a tenth State of Origin in 11 years for Queensland

Wednesday 22 June 2016 15:53 BST
Comments
Corey Oates dives over in the corner to score a try for Queensland
Corey Oates dives over in the corner to score a try for Queensland

Queensland held off a tremendous second-half fightback to beat New South Wales 26-16 and maintain their State of Origin domination with a 10th title in the last 11 years.

The Blues were staring at humiliation for the second year in a row at Suncorp Stadium when winger Dane Gagai scored the second of his three tries early in the second half to give the Maroons a 16-4 lead.

A try for debutant Wales international Tyson Frizell brought Laurie Daley's men back into the game but Queensland finished strongly, to the delight of the majority of the 52,293 crowd as Kevin Walters tasted victory in his first series as head coach with a game to spare.

There was little hint of the excitement to come during a tense opening quarter in which Johnathan Thurston and Adam Reynolds traded penalty goals to make the score 4-4.

The 25-year-old Gagai then sprinted 80 metres for a glorious try, holding off a brave Frizell on the way, to put Queensland 10-4 ahead at half-time and he touched down again seven minutes into the second half after taking a stunning pass from full-back Darius Boyd.

Queensland celebrate a try during the 26-16 win over New South Wales in State of Origin II

Frizell forced his way over to bring the visitors back into the game and, even after Gagai completed his hat-trick on 62 minutes, touching down Thurston's grubber kick, the Blues grabbed a try through James Maloney to keep their hopes alive and it needed a late score from winger Corey Oates seven minutes from the end to seal their fate.

Gagai's hat-trick was the first in an Origin game since former Warrington three-quarter Matt King achieved the feat for New South Wales in the deciding game of 2005.

The Maroons had forward Sam Thaiday put on report for a dangerous throw on Paul Gallen and he was later charged with a grade B offence, which with the option of an early-guilty plea, could make him available for the third game in Sydney next month.

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in