Queensland almost stole Game Three to seal a famous clean sweep, but a last minute try to Michael Jennings prevented a gutsy Maroons outfit at the death. Here are NRL.com's player ratings.
1. Darius Boyd
Set up Greg Inglis with a nice short ball to give Queensland their first points of the night. Safe under the high ball and cemented himself as Australia's best fullback after a brilliant Origin series. Sharked a late try that capped off a great match. 8/10
2. Corey Oates
Accumulated the most run metres for the Maroons in the first half with 62 to his name. Ran hard all night and always bent the Blues' defensive line back. 6.5/10
3. Greg Inglis
Crossed the line in the 5th minute to score his record 18th Origin try and produced a brilliant one on one strip on James Tedesco moments later. Looked dangerous in attack and defence all night. 7/10
4. Justin O'Neill
Struggled to make an impact in attack but continued to be very busy in defence. Had a solid game to back up a great first Origin series. 6/10
5. Dane Gagai
Gagai's defensive reads on the wing were simply outstanding in the first half, especially when Queensland were down to 12 men. Let himself down with an error early in the second half that led to the Blues' second try. 5/10
6. Johnathan Thurston
Missed plenty of tackles and made two crucial errors in the first half. Came back to form in the second half to set up teammate Gavin Cooper. Missed a goal kick from near straight in front that proved costly. 6/10
7. Cooper Cronk
Sent to the sin bin in the 31st minute for holding back Wade Graham on a kick chase. Put a great bomb up to produce a try for Boyd late in the match. 5.5/10
8. Matt Scott
Gave away a soft penalty early in the first half and struggled to match it with the Blues' big men at times. Second-most metres of any Queensland forward and still one of the countries best prop forwards. 6.5/10
9. Cameron Smith
The Queensland and Australian captain didn't have his usual impact in attack. He made up for it with a mammoth defensive effort and a number of superb kicks from dummy half. 7.5/10
10. Nate Myles
Good but not great. Tried hard all night for not much reward. Can't help but feel this might be his last series. 5/10
11. Matt Gillett
39-tackle effort that almost helped Queensland get the win. Struggled in attack without the halves direction. 7/10
12. Sam Thaiday
Made an early error and struggled to make an impact in attack. Looked off the pace all night.5/10
13. Corey Parker
Parker produced a tireless effort in defence when Queensland's backs were to the wall in the first half – making 29 tackles in 40 minutes. 7/10
14. Gavin Cooper
Scored his first Origin try on debut and didn't look out of place in the Origin arena. 5.5/10
15. Josh McGuire
Came off the bench and was arguably Queensland's most effective forward. Ran for 99m from 10 runs. 7/10
16. Aidan Guerra
Injured in the 69th minute after only 25 minutes of game time. Had little to no impact in the game – running for only 34m. 3.5/10
17. Jacob Lillyman
Did what was expected of him and that was to run hard and put his body on the line in defence - always reliable. 6/10
This article first appeared on NRL.com
