Greater Sydney may be in lock down but it was the New South Wales Blues who ‘shut down’ Queensland in the second State Of Origin match at Suncorp Stadium last Sunday night.

Brad Fittler’s men thrashed the Maroons 26-0 and in doing so, took an unbeatable two-nil series lead in the best-of-three games rugby league showpiece.

It was the first time in the 41 year history of ‘Origin’ that Queensland has failed to score a point on home soil and in the two matches to date in 2021, the Cane Toads have only managed to score six points, while the NSW Cockroaches have piled on 76!

The all star NSW backline has been on fire in both games.

Centres Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic have been in irresistible form in both matches, while captain and fullback James Tedesco came up with an absolutely flawless performance in game two.

New South Wales have now claimed the series three times in the past four years and will go into game three as unbackable odds-on favourites.

An early dampener for the Blues is the news that star halfback Nathan Cleary will miss Wednesday July 14’s third and final Origin game after damaging his shoulder during last Sunday’s 26-point whitewash.

The result of last Sunday night’s game, where NSW kept Queensland scoreless and simultaneously clinched the 2021 Origin trophy, proved to be the highlight of an otherwise chaotic weekend for residents of the Premier State.

Last Saturday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a 14-day lockdown for Greater Sydney owing to rising COVID-19 numbers and for the first time, a raft of restrictions were also introduced to NSW regional and country areas.

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• New South Wales pivot Jarome Luai playfully points his finger at Queensland halfback Daly Cherry Evans during The Blues’ 26-point thumping of the Maroons last Sunday night. Photo credit: wwos.nine.com.au