The blood ran down the inside of the mouth of the man known as Big Neck, made obvious when he screamed in celebration. The closeup, flashed on to the stadium’s screen, showed his lip with a gash not in but through it. It was obscene, an image that might deserve a viewer warning in another programme; but here, as the culmination of one of the great State of Origin contests, perfect.
Bradman Best’s breakthrough helped his Blues side to secure a 14-4 victory, just their third win in a decider at Lang Park. Alongside Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart and Andrew Johns, the young Besser Block and his New South Wales teammates now share a page in history.
The moment marked the end of 65 try-less minutes and, though devoid of a four-pointer, they had everything else rugby league could offer: a sideline melee with two dozen players, knocking over chairs and broadcast equipment; an ankle tap; regathered drop-outs; desperate fifth-tackle plays to keep the ball alive, met only by even more desperate defence.
And through it all, the collisions – jarring, painful, bashing, relentless contact. Queensland’s physicality was doubted in the lead-up, after they picked a lightweight side with an even lighter bench, after they had been mauled in Melbourne by a dominant Blues pack. But in Brisbane they showed extraordinary courage.
Led by the lock Patrick Carrigan, their roaring line speed met the NSW ball-runners with venom. And though over the course of the match they were slowly squeezed back towards their own line, the Maroons remained stoic, fearless. In one brave play, Harry Grant – a man who likes to surf on Victoria’s south coast in his spare time – jumped in front of a marauding Spencer Leniu, and still got up for the next tackle.
This was a night full of rugby league trope: an underdog coach; a misunderstood playmaker; and a captain known more for actions than words. Becoming just the third Blues team to win a Brisbane decider “feels pretty cool”, according to Jake Trbojevic, speaking at the post-match press conference alongside the NSW coach Michael Maguire.
How did they celebrate the win? Maguire looked at his captain and smiled. “We had a beer together.” The 50-year-old former fringe first-grader does not have the playing pedigree of many of his coaching peers, but he has found a way to win from the box in England, at Souths, for New Zealand and now on the game’s greatest stage. Largely, it hasn’t been about him. How does it feel, Maguire was asked. “Super happy for the players,” he said.
The coach selected Jarome Luai, the Panthers’ five-eighth, even after he was dropped last year for the final match of the series, and even though his Penrith halves partner Nathan Cleary missed all three matches in 2024 through injury. And he stuck with him after his side’s opening defeat, even while dropping the 2022 Dally M medal-winning Nicho Hynes.
Luai is seen by many as the icing on top of the Panthers’ cake, a fair-weather footballer and lippy front-runner who will find his limits when he moves to Wests Tigers next year. But Maguire’s loyalty was rewarded, and it was Luai who scythed open the Maroons line for Best’s try. “Everyone has their different perceptions of him,” Maguire said. “He’s an outstanding human being, a great family man and, the way he played, he broke the game open.”
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He was also the catalyst for the evening’s most memorable exchange. There was Luai, late in the first half, exchanging face massages with the Queensland captain, Daly Cherry-Evans. In rushed Jeremiah Nanai, and the rest was Origin. The players swarmed. A TV monitor was knocked over. Chairs, and Channel Nine personalities, scattered. A man dressed in khaki chinos and a blue jacket, later identified as the Blues squad member Haumole Olakau’atu, sliced his way through the brawl. And with a sin-bin for either side, it didn’t even ruin the match.
So satisfying was the evening’s encounter, it even left the losing coach feeling better than expected. Billy Slater almost pulled off another series victory, but despite playing all his trump cards – including a last-minute pack reshuffle – he could not hold back Maguire’s Blue tide. He said the result, given the effort of his players, didn’t feel like a loss. “I was disappointed after Melbourne [in game two], I don’t feel disappointed right now.”
But this night, this zenith of rugby league, was Maguire’s. He and his players had played down the significance of having to win a decider in Brisbane when speaking with media in the lead-up. After the match, he was more forthcoming: “Yeah,” he said. “That’ll go down in history that.”
