The NSW Blues have sensationally come away with a series win against all odds after travelling to Brisbane and defeating the Queensland Maroons 30-12 in the 2026 decider.
Under all different types of pressure after the first two outings, coach Laurie Daley has gotten the last laugh, stealing Queensland's unlosable series, and is expected to go out a hero and call it a day on coaching the Blues.
Daley was able to finally unlock Payne Haas in the Origin arena, the game's best forward, and get him poking his nose through the advantage line, something that was extremely difficult to come by in Game 2 in Melbourne.
The tactic was genius, but also not overly complicated, and it just involved Haas standing wider outside the ruck for his hit-ups, aiming at the halves and second row defenders rather than going up against the Maroons engine room.
It meant Haas was able to bend the line and generate a quick play-the-ball a touch faster than he usually would when he traditionally takes his hit-ups in the middle.
For the first time in the series, the Blues were able to capitalise off quality field position drawn by their forward pack getting over the advantage line, and it was spearheaded by Haas in his two stints.
Cameron Murray, Addin Fonua-Blake and Isaah Yeo accompanied him in the middle with incredible performances in front of a boisterous Suncorp Stadium crowd.
Both Liam Martin and Hudson Young also held an Origin-like intensity for the entire 80-minutes and rounded out the Blues forward pack exceptionally.
The Broncos juggernaut finished with 138 metres gained in 17 runs, the most of any forward on the field. 60 of those metres came as post-contact with Maroons defenders on him.
Compared to his Game 2 numbers, running 69 metres with nine runs in the same amount of time on the field, he wasn't as damaging.
Although this time around, it was highly evident that there was a game-plan to step out-wider, and we saw it time and time again.
Throw in the fact Haas has missed a sizeable chunk of the year with a high-end MCL sprain, it is no wonder why he is crowned the game's best middle.
Whether it was Daley, his coaching staff, or a tip-off from Haas to side wider outside the ruck, it tired out Cameron Munster and Sam Walker, nullifying their damage with ball-in-hand, and no-doubt played a role in limiting their stamp on the game.
What made it even stronger was the absolute missiles Reece Robson was throwing from dummy half, straight to the chest and not missing a beat for the 50 minutes he played before Blayke Brailey replaced him.
Not only was Haas coming up against smaller bodies out wide, but generated seven tackle breaks and gave Mitchell Moses and Nathan Cleary time with the ball again and again while on the front foot, a herculean effort from one of the premier enforcers in the NRL.
Throw in the two offloads from Haas, and 32 tackles made on the other side of the ball, Haas had his best performance in the sky blue and was crucial in getting the shield back down to Sydney.
Haas' performance on Wednesday now begs the question: what would he look like as an 80-minute second rower?
The NRL has seen astonishing performances from players like Haumole Olakau'atu, who is generating ridiculous numbers at club land with the Manly Sea Eagles.
He picks out the defending five-eighth in front of him and bullies them for 80-minutes, and is currently averaging 178 metres and has recorded 47 tackle breaks this year.
Is there an argument to be made that Haas should be trialed in the back row to see just how much damage he can do to defending halves?
If he can do it at an elite level against the best middles in the game, imagine the kind of numbers Haas could generate on an edge? Simply terrifying stuff.
Although the hypothetical positional change more so falls under the umbrella of if it ain't broke, don't fix it, with the Broncos enjoying the luxury of a premiership title last year with a massive helping from Haas in the front row.
Given he is on the move to the South Sydney Rabbitohs next year, coach Wayne Bennett can be unpredictable at times and may want to see just how damaging Haas could be.
