Since the State of Origin three-game format was introduced in 1982, 22 series have gone to a deciding match between the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons.
The game on Wednesday evening will mark the first series in two years that the Blues and Maroons will enter Game 3 with one win apiece as Billy Slater and Michael Maguire try to gain the upper hand on one another and write their names in the history books.
As the countdown begins to Game 3 of the 2024 State of Origin series, Palmerbet takes a trip down memory lane and looks at the best five deciding matches in State of Origin history.
2019 State of Origin Series
The NSW Blues have only managed to win once in the last ten State of Origin deciders and that came in 2019. After losing the opening game of the series, the Blues fought back heroically in Game 2, producing a dominant performance that extended the series to a deciding match.
Playing in front of a home crowd at ANZ Stadium (now Accor Stadium), the match went back and forth before coming to a brilliant final ten minutes that saw three players cross over the line for tries in what could be considered the most dramatic ending to an Origin match.
The Maroons bounced back from a 12-point deficit to tie up the scores with less than ten minutes to go, and the match looked destined to go to Golden Point. However, as the clock continued to tick away, the Blues produced an exhilarating 70-metre try which ended with the ball in the hands of fullback James Tedesco.
NSW Blues 26 def QLD Maroons 20
1991 State of Origin Series
Referred to as ‘Wally’s Farewell’, the 1991 State of Origin decider was the final Origin match of the career of Immortal and Team of the Century Five-Eighth Wally Lewis. The sudden announcement by Lewis came just two days before the game as he learned that his baby daughter was deaf at birth.
Only telling the team that the match would be his final game in the Origin arena, Lewis and the Maroons clung to victory with a two-point victory over their rivals. The crowd would only learn of this after ten minutes of the match when the ground announcer broke the news.
Queensland’s win would further cement Lewis’ legacy and provided him with an amazing send-off as he and his teammates celebrated well into the night.
QLD Maroons 14 def NSW Blues 12
2004 State of Origin Series
After retiring from State of Origin football in 2001, Brad Fittler was urged by coach Phil Gould to make his return to the NSW Blues for the final two matches of the 2004 State of Origin series and produced a fairytale comeback.
NSW Blues 36 def QLD Maroons 14
2001 State of Origin Series
Commonly referred to as ‘Alfie’s Return’, Game 3 of the 2001 State of Origin series is widely remembered for the heroics of retired Queensland Maroons halfback Allan Langer.
After losing Game 2, Maroons coach Wayne Bennet decided to ring good mate Allan Langer to see if he wanted to make an Origin return despite having retired from the NRL two seasons earlier and plying his trade overseas in the Super League competition.
Returning to the Australian field, Langer didn’t miss a beat and produced a performance for the ages, which led to QLD winning by 26 points to close out the match. Langer set up several tries throughout the night and would even cross for a try himself as he inspired the injury-riddled Maroons to victory.
“Wayne kept it pretty quiet,” recalled Darren Lockyer on Wide World of Sports.
“I was captain and he told me the night before he announced the team that he was going to bring Alf back and I just went ‘Wow’.
“It’s one of those things that has gone down in Origin folklore. To come from Super League and play the way he did was amazing.”
QLD Maroons 40 def NSW Blues 14