After being held try-less for nearly 140 minutes of football, Queensland finally broke the shackles running in five tries against a valiant Blues outfit who were simply too starved of football to make an impression on the match.

Many had predicted a more open encounter to finish a series that had delivered just five tries in two games, but the first half of the dead rubber followed the same formula with a penalty goal to Trent Hodkinson and a telling try to skipper Cameron Smith three minutes from the interval the only points of the half. 

In a remarkable defensive effort the Blues denied the Maroons what looked like certain tries on four occasions, with Greg Inglis held up over the line twice while Jonathan Thurston and Darius Boyd were also denied by desperate NSW defence inside their own in-goal.

The pressure eventually told late in the match as the home side ran in three tries in the final 20 minutes to complete the 32-8 victory.

Queensland looked to be on the board after just six minutes when Inglis barged over in the left-hand corner, though replays showed he had been denied by a desperate hand from Jarryd Hayne that wrenched the ball free as he attempted to ground the ball.

Queensland went on the attack again after consecutive penalties put them deep inside Blues territory with a deft kick from Cooper Cronk forcing a goal line dropout before a bone-rattler from Beau Scott on Thurston snuffed out a promising attacking raid for the home side.

Inglis was in the action again after 15 minutes splitting the Blues up the middle and finding Thurston with a deft round the corner pass but the Maroons five-eighth was grassed in a desperate tackle from Blues winger James McManus with Greg Bird also on hand to prevent him grounding the ball.

The Maroons looked to have broken through from the ensuing play-the-ball when Aiden Guerra dived on a deflected kick from Cronk in the Blues in-goal for what looked like the opening try.

On-field referee Gerard Sutton ruled a try but was overruled by video referee Bernard Sutton after replays showed Thurston inside the 10 metres in the lead-up.

The Blues earned there best attacking opportunity midway through the half when Blues centre Josh Dugan turned defence into attack, brilliantly gathering a kick from Cronk and darting 30 metres up field.

After withstanding the early onslaught the Blues remarkably posted the first points after Maroons substitute Ben Te'o was penalised for felling Hodkinson after he'd kicked the ball, handing NSW possession five metres  from the Maroons line.

Te'o was placed on report for the challenge though Hodkinson showed no ill-effects from the shot, slotting the penalty goal and giving NSW a 2-0 lead after 24 minutes.

The Blues again put themselves under immense pressure when Hodkinson failed to find tough from a penalty on kickoff reception, giving Queensland another chance to post their first points.

After turning down the chance to level up at 2-2 the Maroons looked certain to score when Will Chambers won the race to a Cronk grubber in the Blues in-goal only for a desperate hand from Daniel Tupou to deny the Storm flyer a try on debut.

The Blue wall refused to yield again as Boyd found his way over the line only to be held up again in a desperate tackle from Josh Reynolds.

Inglis forced his way over minutes later but was also held up by desperate Blues defence.

Reynolds was again in the action with seven minutes remaining, leveling Chambers with a shoulder charge for which he was placed on report.

It proved a costly brain-snap when Daly Cherry-Evans broke the dead-lock three minutes from the interval, splitting the Blues up the middle and grubbering ahead for Smith to regather and finally post the first try of the match. Thurston's conversion gave the home side a 6-2 lead at halftime.

In contrast to the first 40, the Maroons were on the board after just three minutes in the second stanza with Justin Hodges finding Billy Slater with a short-ball close to the Blues line to extend the lead to 12-2.

Thurston looked certain the extend the lead minutes later when he broke through the defence with support but was brought down by Hayne centimetres from the Blues line on the last tackle.

The Maroons put the lead out to two converted tries with 20 minutes remaining when Bird was placed on report for an ugly looking lifting tackle on Titans teammate Nate Myles in front of the posts.

Thurston slotted the goal for a 14-2 lead heading into the final quarter.

Tempers flared from the restart when Bird and Myles again came together with Myles placed on report for lifting his elbow into Bird while in possession.

NSW took advantage from the ensuing penalty when Dugan, who was clearly the Blues’ best on the night, finished off a sweeping move to cross untouched on the left edge. 

The try was sent upstairs by Ben Cummins but got the green light with Hodkinson's conversion drawing the Blues closer at 14-8 with 18 minutes to play.

The Blues pressed hard for the leveller when Hayne, quiet to that point, broke the Maroons open and found Beau Scott who was grassed by Boyd 10 metres from the line.

It was the Blues’ last chance as the Maroons sealed the result nine minutes from time when Thurston found Boyd with a pin-point long ball in the left corner with Thurston's sideline conversion extending the lead to 20-8.

Late tries to Guerra and Cronk in the final six minutes saw the score blow out, leaving man of the series Paul Gallen to lift the shield on the back of a 32-8 loss.

QUEENSLAND 32 (D Boyd C Cronk A Guerra B Slater C Smith tries J Thurston 6 goals) bt NEW SOUTH WALES 8 (J Dugan try T Hodkinson 2 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Referees: Gerard Sutton, Ben Cummins. Crowd: 50,155.

Game 1: NSW 12 bt QLD 8

Game 2: NSW 6 bt QLD 4

Game 3: QLD 32 bt NSW 8

Series: NSW win series 2-1