2008 State of Origin Series - Game III

Game III

Queensland made no changes to their lineup for the decider while New South Wales made seven: Hayne returned from suspension and replaced Turner on the Wing; Cross, back from injury replaced Simpson; Anasta and Pearce formed a new halves pairing replacing the injured Bird and Wallace; Monaghan replaced Gasnier out with a back injury; Fitzgibbon moved to the Second-row and Mason to Prop.

In starting, Danny Buderus beat two Blues standing records - Harragon's for consecutive matches and Fittler's for most games as captain. Much of the media build-up focused on the match being his state representative farewell, as well as Mitchell Pearce's debut and Braith Anasta's State of Origin comeback. Blues' utility Kurt Gidley had been shuffled at the last minute into the starting line-up over Brett Stewart, resulting in formal pre-match protest from Queensland.

After one minute of Game III a tackle was made on New South Wales forward Ben Cross by the Queenslanders which sparked a brawl. A penalty was awarded to the Blues and Craig Fitzgibbon kicked it, putting NSW in front 2 - 0. In the fifth minute the Maroons were advancing on the Blues' line when Queensland halfback Scott Prince put a high kick up to the right corner which Bues winger Anthony Quinn failed to catch, allowing Israel Folau to grab the ball and simply fall over the try-line. Johnathan Thurston missed the conversion, leaving the score at 2 - 4 in favour of the Maroons. Ten minutes later Queensland were a man down after Prince's forearm was broken in a tackle and the New South Welshmen capitalised, working the ball up close to the Maroons' line and out to left centre Matt Cooper to stretch out through the defence and plant the ball. Fitzgibbon added the extras to give his team an 8 - 4 lead. In the twenty-second minute, the Queenslanders were again attacking close to the Blues' try-line when from in front of the posts Thurston put a kick up high and across to Folau's wing. Folau, coming through at speed, leapt above his opposite number to grab the ball and as he fell awkwardly back down, managed to ground it one-handed behind his head in what was a remarkable effort. The conversion was missed by Thurston so the scores were level at 8 - 8. A few minutes later, New South Wales hooker Danny Buderus ran from dummy-half, catching the Maroons' defence off-side and gaining his team a penalty, which Fitzgibbon successfully kicked, giving the Blues a 10 - 8 lead. No more points were scored before half time.

New South Wales started the second half with repeat sets of six in Queensland's half of the field. A loose ball in the Maroons' in-goal was dived on by Anasata, but the video referee found that it was a penalty to Queensland. The maroons' following set of six ended with another penalty to them in attacking position, with Thurston kicking the two points to level at 10 - 10. Queensland forward Nate Myles was lucky not to be sent off (but was later suspended for 6 weeks) for a tackle in the forty-eighth minute which upended Ben Cross and resulted in another minor scuffle and a penalty to the Blues, but the Maroons withstood NSW's attack. A few minutes later the game was halted when Queensland forward Michael Crocker was knocked out as Michell Pearce's attempted clearing kick sent the ball into the back of his head. Just at the sixty-seven minute mark Thurston, from within his own half, got the ball at first-receiver and threw a dummy, slicing through the defensive line before passing to Billy Slater running through in support to score the match-winning try under the posts. The conversion was simple and Queensland regained the lead at 10 - 16. In the final minutes the Blues attacked the Maroons' line repeatedly but could not break through and Queensland had won their third series in a row, replicating "three-peats" achieved in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1987, 1988, 1989.

The national TV audience peaked at more than 2.5 million, breaking the record set in the last game.