"If you want to play like the NSW of old you won't be in the f---ing team".
Blues coach Laurie Daley should steal that line from former South Sydney coach Jason Taylor in the 2007 documentary Southside Story, when he sits down and delivers those words to his players after they blew a match against the Warriors.
NSW blew much more than that in Wednesday night's 52-6 loss in the Origin series decider as they reverted to the bad old days when it seemed like Queensland's domination would never end as they conceded dumb penalties and showed poor ball control.
After their stunning 26-18 triumph at the MCG in Origin II, the Blues' first win in a series decider at Suncorp Stadium since 2005 would have signalled the start of a new era in Origin football and cast doubts about the futures of some of the Queensland veterans, such as Corey Parker.
Having being ridiculed in some quarters for asking rookie firebrand David Klemmer to "show some respect" during a heated exchange in the dying minutes of Origin II, Parker demanded it on Wednesday night.
Ill-discipline cost the Blues, as it had so many times during those eight consecutive series defeats, and the result was exactly the same as they were schooled by a Maroons team which romped to its biggest win in Origin history.
With prop Aaron Woods conceding three penalties in the first half, second-rower Beau Scott enabling Johnathan Thurston to kick a penalty goal 15 metres out following a late shot on Cameron Smith after he had kicked 50 metres downfield, and Trent Merrin upending Parker in an ugly spear tackle, the game and series were lost before half-time.
Hooker Michael Ennis, who was called in to replace the injured Robbie Farah, provided a reminder of why he lost his place in 2011 as he approached referee Gerard Sutton after the penalty against Scott and said: "You are getting overwhelmed by the crowd".
Sutton rightly told Ennis to go away as it was the Blues who seemed to be overwhelmed and playing with too much emotion. There even seemed to be confusion over who was the acting captain while Paul Gallen was off the field, with both Ennis and Josh Morris telling Sutton they had taken over the role, before looking at each other and having a discussion.
After dominating possession and field position in the opening five minutes when Queensland failed to complete their first two sets to take a 2-0 lead following a Trent Hodkinson penalty goal, the Blues spent most of the first half on the back foot – much as they had done in the second half of Origin I – and they never recovered.
On five occasions in the opening half, the Maroons had three or more consecutive sets of tackles and three of those yielded tries against tiring NSW defence and by the interval they had taken advantage of their 67 per cent share of possession, according to statistics from Prozone, to lead 22-2.
As the players left the field, NSW captain Paul Gallen approached Sutton and said, "The penalties are ridiculous". Sutton responded, "It is three each in the ruck, two were against you guys for lifting tackles and one for the 10 metres. They are not discretionary when you are doing that".
The Blues did not improve in the second half and conceded a further five penalties to Queensland's two, including one in which James Tamou collared Jacob Lillyman in a high tackle and swung a punch at him on the ground, while the Blues completed just four of their nine sets of possession with the ball in a return to the bad old days for NSW.
