A glance at State of Origin III at Accor Stadium in Sydney where NSW avoided a series whitewash by defeating Queensland 24-10.
*RESULT: NSW defeat Queensland 24-10 at Accor Stadium in front of 75,342 fans.
*KEY MOMENT: The second half had been evenly matched and scoreless until NSW captain James Tedesco sold a dummy and skipped between Valentine Holmes and Daly Cherry-Evans. Criticised for his lukewarm performances in the first two games, the fullback belted down-field and passed inside for Bradman Best, whose second try had the Blues closing in on victory up 14 points with 13 minutes to play.
*MAN OF THE MATCH: In his first Origin game since 2020, Cody Walker earned man-of-the-match honours and was dynamic down the left edge as the Blues established an 18-10 halftime lead. An honourable mention goes to Blues centre Best, who scored two tries on his Origin debut to vindicate his surprise selection.
*TALKING POINT: What will this win mean for the Blues' future? Under siege earlier in the series, does coach Brad Fittler now hold onto his job given what he's been able to achieve with the new-look Blues and the lack of viable options to replace him? Will Cody Walker remain NSW's five-eighth into 2024? And what of James Tedesco? Has this win allayed concerns he may lose the fullback jersey after a record run of 22 consecutive games?
*KEY STAT: When Queensland centre Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow chipped through Brian To'o and Tedesco to regather the ball for a first-half try, he became only the second player in Origin history to score in each of his first four games. The only other man to accomplish the feat is fellow Maroons centre Valentine Holmes, who in 2018 was the last player before Tabuai-Fidow to have scored in all three games of an Origin series.
*INJURIES: NSW winger Josh Addo-Carr limped off clutching his right hamstring in the final five minutes but was on his feet shortly after having the affected area strapped and iced.
*QUOTE: "It was great to see Bradman score a try in front of 75,000 people ... at the end of the day it's a sport and when it's done well it's so entertaining. People will go home and remember that forever" - NSW coach Brad Fittler after the Blues' expansive tryscoring avoided a series whitewash.
*JUDICIARY WATCH: Nil
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