Carayannis: Why Queensland can't escape blowtorch for Game III choke

Despite entering the match as heavy underdogs, Laurie Daley’s NSW side completed one of the most memorable ambushes in State of Origin history to clinch the 2026 series.

Nathan Cleary was named player of the match and series after leading NSW to just their fourth Origin decider win at Suncorp Stadium.

Daley faced plenty of criticism throughout the series but following a disastrous Game III performance, The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis believes Queensland and coach Billy Slater should face more scrutiny.

“We sit here and we knock NSW often,” Carayannis said on SEN 1170.

“Let’s put the blowtorch back on Queensland because they were inept.

“They were poor, they didn’t handle the expectation of being favourites and now Billy Slater has lost two Origin deciders in Queensland in the last three years.

“If that was a New South Welshman, what would we be all saying?

“That same level of scrutiny needs to be applied to Queensland now.

“Sam Walker was outstanding in Game I and Game II but if that was a NSW halfback in Game III that performed like that, what would be said?

“We were critical, and rightly so, of NSW in Game I. In Game II, they weren’t great and then they showed us up in Game III.

“Just take a look at this Queensland side. They were poor and they were so bad.

“They had everything to play for and they just looked flat in front of their home crowd.

“A number of their big players didn’t stand up.

“Going into Game III, I couldn’t see NSW winning. I just couldn’t but they had the players to produce something like that and they stood up.”

After an underwhelming Game II and return to Parramatta, Daley resisted the calls to axe Mitch Moses for the decider.

The decision to retain Moses was ultimately proven to be the right one as the 31-year-old produced a kicking performance for the ages and rescued poor sets from NSW on numerous occasions.

“He kicked NSW out of pressure in those first 10 mins,” Carayannis added.

“NSW were on the back foot and couldn’t get out of their own end but some of that pressure was alleviated on the back of Moses’ boot.

“This was another big call from Laurie because I wouldn’t have had Mitch Moses in my side after the way he performed in Game II and his game for Parramatta a couple of days later.”

Moses surpassed Cleary’s record for most kick metres in an Origin game (696m, 2022 Game II) with 721 metres from 18 kicks.