League: Queensland hand Lockyer fitting farewell

Sam Thaiday of the Maroons celebrates after scoring a try. Photo / Getty Images

QUEENSLAND 34 NSW 24
Darren Lockyer's Queensland team-mates ensured their retiring skipper got his fairytale farewell as the Maroons collected a sixth-straight State of Origin series with a 34-24 win at Suncorp Stadium.

Making his record 36th and last appearance in the maroon, Lockyer was outshone by his brilliant teammates as they ran in six tries to NSW's four, with Greg Inglis collecting a double including the clincher 11 minutes from time.

Billy Slater, Petero Civoniceva and man-of-the-match and series Cameron Smith also starred as Queensland clinched their first series-decider at their spiritual home in 20 years.

State of Origin III - as it happened

But while he wasn't the star, this was undoubtedly Lockyer's night, his teammates racing to embrace the champion five-eighth on the stroke of fulltime, Johnathan Thurston joining the celebrations in a wheelchair after suffering a suspected season-ending knee injury.

For all the dominance of Queensland's five-year reign as Origin champions, never have they produced an opening like this.

Spurred on by a record equalling 52,498 crowd, the Maroons refused to let the Blues into the game, ferocious running backed up a precise kicking game which forced NSW five-eighth Jamie Soward to come up with five line drop outs over the opening quarter of the game.

What was amazing was that the home side had only one try to their name over the period, Inglis touching down after a deft Johnathan Thurston kick.

Slater had provided the offload to instigate the opening four-pointer, and he produced the final pass for the second - Sam Thaiday almost running out of the stadium as he charged over.

Embarrassed by Blues skipper Paul Gallen in Sydney, Civoniceva and Matt Scott replied in kind and then some, Civoniceva in what could well be his final Origin appearance running for 125 metres in the opening 25 minutes.

For a moment it looked like Lockyer would grab his moment in the sun as he set off downfield, but he had to settle for providing the impetus for Smith to crash over from dummy half two plays later.

By the time a Lockyer kick ricocheted off the legs of Minichiello into the path of Jharal Yow Yeh to make it 24-0 on 33 minutes - even the most ardent of Blues supporters were fearing the worst.

"It's like watching a game of tennis where one player forgot his racquet," former Blues coach Phil Gould quipped.

It seemed NSW weren't concerned with trying to mount a counter attack but rather just finding some way to stop the bleeding.

Out of nowhere, the Blues grasped hold of a band-aid, a fluffed Soward kick fumbled by four different Maroons before Luke Lewis picked up the scraps to send Minichiello over for a confidence-boosting try.

Chancing their arm, the Blues found another on the stroke of halftime when Mark Gasnier got on the outside of Thurston to send Akuila Uate in for his first Origin four-pointer.

Soward then missed a relatively easy attempt at goal which would have brought NSW to within two converted tries at halftime.

But Blues coach Ricky Stuart would have been delighted with a 14-point deficit considering what could have been, and he would have been even more joyous with the way his side opened the second as the Maroons uncharacteristically started falling off tackles.

NSW couldn't come up with the crucial final play, and not even Thurston being taken off on the medicab helped.

Instead it was the home side who iced the game, a beautifully worked play between Lockyer and Thaiday sent Slater over before Inglis kick-started the party with his second.

Jarryd Hayne collected a consolation prize with an eight-point try which landed Smith on report for coming in late with his knees, before Greg Bird got another just before fulltime.

- AAP