NSW 10 Queensland 16

It wasn't the rookie halfback's fault. Nor was it Braith Anasta's. The emotion of captain Danny Buderus's last Origin match could not be blamed, either.

Simply, Queensland demonstrated, in typical style, why they have ruled State of Origin for the past three years: with their backs to the wall, with halfback Scott Prince's broken arm in a sling for most of the match, with NSW throwing everything at them but to no avail, they still triumphed.

Who else but bloody Queensland? Again.

They nailed it with 12 minutes remaining, when playmaker Johnathan Thurston - who was outstanding last night - found space on the left, slipped around a NSW opponent and sent fullback Billy Slater to the line to break a 10-10 deadlock that had hung heavy in the cool air for more than half-an-hour.

Typical of the match, though, NSW had one last play, with Mitchell Pearce kicking deep and Slater running it over the sideline. The dramatic finish merely underlined a melodramatic match.

Drama. This match was packed with it. What about the sight of Prince trudging up the tunnel after breaking his arm in the first half, another blow to a player who has been robbed of too many games, with two broken legs early in his career, and the Maroons struggling in attack from the moment he left the field.

Or Nate Myles's horrendous spear tackle on Ben Cross in the second half that merely went on report from referee Tony Archer. "What do you have to do to be sent off?" Buderus asked. Put someone in a wheelchair, apparently.

Or Queensland back-rower Michael Crocker wobbling off with severe concussion after the ball hit him squarely in the side of the head from a kick from Pearce.

Or the official complaint from the Maroons after NSW deviously started with Kurt Gidley at fullback, having benched Brett Stewart?

Last night's game was easily the most absorbing in recent years. Quintessential Origin. Then again, did anyone really think it was going to be a dud?

Queensland suck up the emotion, using it as impetus to punch above their weight - not that they've needed it in the past three years. So who knows if a team of jittery footballers would have appreciated Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sauntering in unannounced just 25 minutes before kick-off to wish them good luck?

For his part, Wayne Pearce was feeling the heat in the stands. He wouldn't tell the Herald what advice he'd imparted to his 19-year-old son, Mitchell, but offered this: "I'm just as nervous as I was as a player."

Over in Bondi, Erin McNaught was hosting an Origin party at a burger restaurant. A sweat moustache was forming on the Miss Universe contestant's upper lip in anticipation of boyfriend Anasta's recall to the side. "I'm extremely nervous," she said. "But not as nervous as if I was there. He's a bit nervous, too."

But neither the PM, Origin legend Pearce nor Miss Australia 2006 could have envisaged the match would erupt in the second minute, when Cross copped a slap across the face from Petero Civoniceva and each player locked horns like stags. "You've had your go," referee Archer warned the captains. "That's enough."

From there, NSW and Queensland unfurled one the most absorbing matches of the season.

Maroons winger Israel Folau scored the first try when his Blues opposite, Anthony Quinn, leapt high and the ball hit him in the throat. Shortly afterwards, NSW responded, with centre Matt Cooper stretching out to plant the ball over the line.

But as the Maroons dropped their heads in the in-goal, they would've been unaware of the sight of Prince trudging up the tunnel. ABC Radio broke the news first, claiming a fracture, and then, minutes later, as Greg Inglis bombed a certain try when he failed to see Darius Boyd crossing behind him, came confirmation.

The news mustn't have reached the Queensland players as Thurston cross-kicked to Quinn's wing again. Folau flew through the air, climbed over his back and pulled down a screamer to level the scores. Truly, it was Capper-esque.

From there, with Prince absent, the momentum swayed NSW's way. But the chances always seemed to rest in the Maroons' hands.

It stayed that way for the rest of the match. As a broken Buderus said afterwards: "That's Queensland. That's what they do." 

QUEENSLAND 16 (I Folau 2, B Slater tries; J Thurston 2 goals) bt NEW SOUTH WALES 10 (M Cooper try; C Fitzgibbon 3 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Tony Archer. Crowd: 78,751