NSW takes game three of the State of Origin series, avoiding a whitewash

The NSW Blues were able to avoid a sweep in the 2023 State of Origin series with a game three victory. 

With the 2023 State of Origin series at 2-0 in favour of Queensland, NSW were able to avoid the sweep with a 24-10 game three victory. Cody Walker was terrific and Josh Addo-Carr scored a brilliant try to salvage a game win from the already lost series. 

New South Wales Take Game Three 24-10, Avoid the Sweep

After losing the first two matches including an embarrassing 32-6 loss in game two, NSW were looking to avoid becoming just the fifth Blues side to be whitewashed in over 40 years. They did just that with a compelling 24-10 win over the Maroons in front of 75,342 fans at Sydney’s Accor Stadium. 

It was Queensland who jumped ahead on the scoreboard as David Fifita muscled his way into the try zone and with the conversion from Valentine Holmes the Maroons led 6-0. 

From there New South Wales would go on to blitz Queensland for 16 unanswered points in a span of 10 minutes. 

Thanks to player of the match Cody Walker’s decision making and speed unleashing the left side of NSW’s attack, Brian To’o, Bradman Best, and Josh Addo-Carr were all able to score tries in quick succession. 

To’o was the beneficiary of Walker and Addo-Carr’s brilliance on the left side causing the Queensland defence to scramble over leaving them vulnerable on the right. The Blues quickly shifted the ball which eventually found the hands of To’o who finished off the try. 

Then came Addo-Carr’s all timer. With Walker forcing three defenders to converge on him he made a pass to Best who quickly relayed the ball to the Foxx who then did the rest. 
Addo-Carr sprinted down the left-wing leaving many Maroons in his dust and then chipped the ball over AJ Brimson and ran by him to secure the ball and score. 

Not long after, Best scored as once again Cody Walker waited for the Maroon’s defence to commit before flinging a pass to Best who powered his way in for the try on his debut. 

At halftime the Blues led 18-10 following a pehonomenal try from the Maroons’ HamisoTabuai-Fidow. 

New South Wales would extend their lead and essentially seal the game with Bradman best’s second try in the 65th minute. The Blues captain James Tedesco who had been heavily criticized in the first two State of Origin games broke through the Queensland line and sent Best in for an untouched try. 

The game would end 24-10 and although they still lost the series, NSW can certainly take some solace from their performance in game three. 

Is Brad Fittler Now Safe?

After losing games one and two of the 2023 State of Origin Series many were questioning Brad Fittler as NSW’s coach of the future. 

With betting sites seeing Queensland as favourites to complete the sweep it was clear that Fittler would have to make some changes to his lineup to field a more competitive squad. And that he did. 

He recalled Cody Walker who hadn’t played in the series for three years and inserted Bradman Best into the squad for his debut Origin match. 

As you have read, these changes made all the difference. Cody Walker was named player of the match after tearing up the Queensland defence all night while Best excelled in his debut with a pair of tries. 

With these massive decisions having paid off so beautifully for Fittler and the Blues en route to their victory, he may have done enough to keep his job, despite losing the series. 

Queensland had already claimed the Origin Shield heading into Wednesday’s match in Sydney but there was still a lot to play for. NSW had pride on the line looking to avoid the sweep and the potential sacking of their coach and they came through with a 24-10 victory.