Queensland's dominance in Origin has continued for the third straight year, after they downed the NSW boys 16-10 in Sydney - and boy, did the game started with a bang.

It took only one minute before a fight broke out after Ben Cross was hit by a high shot - both sides were fully fired-up for the decider.

NSW took the early lead with a penalty, before Queensland scored the opening try in the fifth minute. Scott Prince put up a bomb, which Israel Falou took easily thanks to some poor handling from Anthony Quinn.

A try by Matt Cooper gave NSW back the lead before Falou scored a fantastic try, out-jumping Quinn to score his second of the night.

Another penalty before the break gave NSW a 10-8 lead at halftime...

The second half was a tough battle, as both sides struggled to break the others defence.

Nate Myles was put on report for a grade three dangerous tackle on Cross, which led to another all-in brawl (It's great to see a bit of biff in Origin...) - Myles looks set to miss up to eight weeks for the tackle.

It was the 67th minute when Thurston threw a dummy and broke the NSW line, setting up Billy Slater for what would prove to be the match winner - NSW never looked like scoring from that point on.

Final score - 16-10 to the mighty Maroons.

Being NSW supporters, it's hard to say this, but...

Queensland are one classy outfit.

What makes the Queensland effort even more impressive is the fact they won without playmaker Scott Prince (who broke his arm in the 15th minute), which saw Karmichael Hunt move the five eight.

Once again, Steve Price and Petro Civoniceva were outstanding up front for Queensland, while Dallas Johnson was fantastic on defence, as was Brent Tate (again...).

NSW had their moments, but were ultimately let down by some poor discipline at crucial times. Paul Gallen (who we think is completely overrated, by the way) gave away some costly penalties, which gave Queensland some easy meters down the field.

Another player who looked out of his depth was Anthony Quinn. After surprising us in Game One, his form has been less-than-impressive in the last two games, and his defence last night was poor. Just like Steve Turner (in Game Two) we can't help but wonder if he would have been selected if Craig Bellamy wasn't the coach.

If NSW are to compete next year, they need to bring back guys like Brent Kite, Nathan Hindmarsh and Andrew Ryan. These are the types of player who will give you eighty minutes of solid footy, rather than guys like Gallen who give away stupid (yes, stupid) penalties on a regular basis.

In the end, Queensland have been the better side in the series. NSW have only managed one try in the last two games, which is never going to be enough at Origin level.

It's been a fantastic series, though (well, maybe not so much for NSW supporters...) again showing that Origin is the pinnacle of rugby league.