Flying winger Josh Addo-Carr has scored a try double, as New South Wales clinched the 2021 State of Origin series over Queensland with a game left to play.
After their 50-6 victory in the series opener at Townsville, the Blues made no contest of the second encounter, holding their rivals scoreless for the first time at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium in a 26-0 romp.
The result has left Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans clueless as to how his side can turn momentum around wherever Game Three is played, with a fresh COVID-19 outbreak threatening the third and final game in Sydney.
Addo-Carr opened the scoring in the 12th minute, after centre Latrell Mitchell stripped the ball off counterpart Kurt Capewell in a tackle on the Queensland 20. When the ball moved right, half Nathan Cleary found his winger with a long cutout pass and the line open.
Mitchell grabbed the second try, when he intercepted Valentine Holmes' long pass on his own goal-line and sprinted the length of the field to score.
Before halftime, Addo-Carr laid on a try to centre Tom Trbojevic, who sent him away down the right sideline and stayed in support for a return pass, as New South Wales reached halftime 18-0 ahead.
Queensland had their chances to score, but could not make the most of those.
Their best opportunity came 14 minutes after the restart, when half Cameron Munster floated a pass to winger Xavier Coates, who dived at the corner, but had the ball dislodged by Trbojevic's despairing tackle.
Cleary extended the lead with a penalty, before Addo-Carr put the seal on victory, accepting an offload from captain James Tedesco and stepping inside two tacklers to complete his double.
Game Three is scheduled for July 14 at Stadium Australia, but the NRL is considering its options over the venue, with COVID-19 rearing its head again and Newcastle seemingly the fallback plan.
NSW 26 (Addo-Carr 2, Trbojevic & Mitchell tries; Cleary 4 conversions & penalty) Queensland 0
Join us for live updates of Origin III between NSW and Queensland on July 14
