It's the monumental task they still face despite romping home to 44-12 win over the Maroons in Perth on Sunday night.

It's the type of game that's been not uncommon in recent seasons, at least as far as the Blues are concerned.

They won last year's series in two games by a combined tally of 76-6, the second game at Suncorp Stadium playing out in not too dissimilar fashion to Sunday's clash.

That 26-0 win showed the Blues can win at Origin's spiritual home, but in a decider? That's something they haven't done since Andrew Johns was pulling the strings in 2005.

They've lost the last two Brisbane deciders by a combined 74-12 - their biggest ever loss coming 52-6 in the final series-deciding match of the 2015 series.

The next decider in Brisbane in 2017 played out similarly, the Maroons getting up 22-6, Maroons coach Billy Slater wearing the No. 1 in both.

He knew how to get it done as a player it'll be a different task as a coach charges with pulling his side back up from a 32-point pasting orchestrated by Nathan Cleary.

Ironically, Blues counterpart Brad Fittler and assistant coach Paul McGregor were both part of the last NSW team to drop the first game of a series in Sydney before winning the next two games on the road - the decider at the old Lang Park.

Fittler had a brief take on the challenge post-game.

"As good as that was it's one-all," Fittler said.

"It's as simple as that. That's the end of it, we're playing at Suncorp and we've only won once there in four years.

"That's it, we've given ourselves a chance."

After being punished every time he thought of kicking the ball in game one, Cleary signalled his intention to give as good as he got when he charged down Munster's first kick to put the Blues on the attack.

He didn't let up for the 75 minutes that followed, running in two tries and laying on two others in performance at least equal to that of Cameron Munster that was so lauded after game one.

"I thought he read the game really well setting up the early try [for Burton] with the kick," Fittler said.

"They were coming and putting a lot of pressure on us with their outside defence. By the end of the game they were pretty fatigued and him and Jarome [Luai] just took advantage.

"That's what they can do, they do it at Penrith, but I think he set it up early with a few decisions early."

It brought some personal vindication for Cleary but also for Fittler who made wholesale changes to the side that was outgunned in game one.

"I think the biggest compliment you can get as a coach is when you make a few changes or some decisions [your players] go out and do what they're supposed to do," Fittler said.

"[New players] all played really well. The guys playing their first game, Sifa [Talakai] and Burto, I thought they were fantastic.

"To acknowledge that we weren't great [last game], some people lost their position, so we worked hard to make sure it wasn't in vain."

As good as the Blues were, there's no doubt referee Ashley Klein's decision to sin-bin Queensland back-rower moments before halftime was the major turning point.

A tit-for-tat first half saw five lead changes, with Maroons leading 12-8 when Kaufusi was dispatched.

It's a brave referee who uses the sin-bin in an Origin game, especially without the presence of a clear professional foul, but Klein went there on the basis of repeated infringements.

It's an interpretation rarely utilised at Origin level, particularly in the absence of a verbal warning to Kaufusi or skipper Daly Cherry-Evans.

Cynics will no doubt suggest it was a belated response to Fittler and others in Blues camp bemoaning the Maroons efforts to slow down the ruck in game one.

Slater wasn't one to suggest as much post-game.

"Fatigue's a part of the game and when you go down to 12 men you're team's a lot more fatigued so that contributed, but that's the game," Slater said.

"I'll have to go back and look at the penalties individually but that's the referees' job, they'll review their own game, you guys (the media) will review that.

"I'm not here to talk about the referee. I've got my job to think about and we won't use that as an excuse.

"I thought that first 50 minutes was a really good contest and then NSW just started playing with a little bit more energy than us.

"From there, some [lack of] concentration things crept into our game and we compounded that, so that's where it was decided."

Klein clearly got some memo given he awarded eight penalties (four each) in the first half alone, one more than he blew through 80 minutes in Origin I, with the final tally sitting at 13 by fulltime.

Whatever the conflicting views on that aspect, the Blues made good on assistant coach Greg Alexander's promise to be less "nice" than they were in the series opener.

Cleary was ruthless in working over of a 12-man defensive line, the only spell for the Maroons in the second half coming in the hang-time of the monster bombs Matt Burton launched at regular intervals.

It saw the Blues enjoy 61 per cent of possession and run the leg-less Maroons into the ground to set up a decider they'll take all the momentum into.

The Blues had the first small victory when Liam Martin was stripped of the footy by Kaufusi, that fact only apparent after a successful captain's challenge.

A second strip in as many tackles saw another penalty and first points to Cleary with an ensuing penalty goal.

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Queensland went closest to the first four-pointer when Brian To'o inexplicably let the ball roll in his own in-goal, Selwyn Cobbo bouncing the attempted grounding.

There was no denying Kaufusi seven minutes later when he charged onto a deft short-ball from Kayln Ponga, Holmes converting for a 6-2 lead after 24 minutes.

The Blues hist straight back through Burton courtesy of a well-placed grubber from Cleary, who converted to re-take the lead 12 minutes before the break.

It too was fleeting, with Ponga again producing the goods for Queensland when he burned Stephen Crichton for pace and found Holmes and Munster in support, the latter grabbing the go-ahead four-pointer.

Holmes made no mistake off the tee to give his side a four-point cushion as halftime loomed.

The Blues pushed hard for a leveller and exerted enough pressure for Kaufusi to infringe one too many times and get sent to the bin by Klein.

To'o crossed for his side's second try three rucks later against an edge a man down to level-up at 12 apiece.

Cleary nailed the sideline conversion for a two-point halftime lead and put Daniel Tupou across 10 minutes into the second half following a relentless assault on the Maroons line.

He added the extras for a 20-12 lead and when Jarome Luai split a rapidly tiring line eight minutes later it put the game beyond reach.

The party started from there, with Cleary grabbing two tries in three minutes as the lead ballooned to to 20 with 15 minutes left.

Angus Crichton's 73^rd minute try was the cherry on top of an emphatic win for the Blues.

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