New South Wales' hopes of building a State of Origin dynasty were brutally exposed once again, suffering a devastating collapse in the Origin decider on Wednesday night.
The Blues were comprehensively outplayed by Queensland in the Game III decider at Accor Stadium, falling 24-12 in a performance that has drawn heavy criticism from rugby league legends.
Queensland great and current commentator Darren Lockyer delivered a stinging assessment post-match, highlighting a long-standing issue that continues to haunt NSW: a lack of attitude and resilience.
According to Lockyer, the Blues simply don’t have what it takes to build a lasting Origin legacy, unlike the Maroons, who have now claimed yet another series victory.
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However, it was legendary former NSW coach Phil Gould who provided the most scathing analysis of the Blues’ display, describing the match as the “perfect game of Origin football” played by Queensland.
“In Origin, it’s a three-game series and you anticipate you’d improve from game to game, and you want your peak to be in the third game — Queensland did that,” Gould said.
“They weren’t that great in Game 1, they got better in game two and they were terrific in Game 3.
“NSW were probably the other way around — they were good in Game 1, not so good in Game 2 and terrible tonight.
“It was the perfect exhibition of Origin football. Origin is different to club football and it looked like an Origin side playing against a club side. It looked like a really connected group of blokes with that Origin spirit up against the team of individuals, I can’t explain it any other way than that,” he added.
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Gould went on to highlight Queensland’s superior structure, pressure, and execution, while NSW failed to apply any effective kick pressure or game management.
“It just looked like Queensland had a plan and NSW were disrupted by it, became a rabble in attack and defence and couldn’t recover,” he said.
“It was a consummate Origin performance. NSW extremely, extremely disappointing.”
Post-match reaction zeroed in on the underwhelming performance of the Blues' halves pairing Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, as well as the coaching pressure mounting on Laurie Daley, who has now won just one of six series at the helm.
Gould took to social media platform X shortly after full-time to double down on his blunt post-match analysis.
Queensland too good.
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) July 9, 2025
The perfect Origin performance.
Got better each game and peaked when it mattered in Game III.
NSW got worse the further the series went. That’s a concern. They will be very disappointed.
Nothing else to say, other than well done to the Maroons. They…