The Blues finally brought to Origin a passion that had hitherto been associated mainly with Queensland and fielded a formidable halves pairing in Peter Sterling and Brett Kenny that found the measure of Maroons star Wally Lewis.

Blues hooker Royce Simmons typified the newfound New South Wales' spirit when early in the opening game he was knocked senseless, after a vicious hit by Queensland's Greg Dowling.

Before a record Origin crowd of 40,707 at the SCG, the class of Lewis and Queensland again led into the second half 16-12 after 52 minutes before Sterling and Kenny engineered a New South Wales onslaught.

Man-of-the-match Sterling then threw a sweetly timed pass for Kenny to take New South Wales to an 18-16 lead and four minutes later second-rower Noel Cleal crashed over between the posts for an unassailable 24-16 scoreline.

For the third year running the final match of the series was a dead rubber, but with Test positions on the line for the three clashes with New Zealand and the end of season Kangaroo tour plus the opportunity for New South Wales to become the first team to win 3-0, there was plenty to play for.