Queensland have sent State of Origin to a decider with a 26-24 win after NSW ran out of time to complete the rivalry’s greatest comeback at a soaked Optus Stadium in Perth.

The Maroons raced out to a 26-6 lead in the first half, capitalising on the territory gains afforded by an 8-0 penalty count against the Blues.

But NSW cleaned up their act in the second and their own run of four unanswered tries put them back in the mix — only to be undone by the first three of those going unconverted by Zac Lomax.

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Repeat sets in the dying stages put the pressure on Queensland but recalled forward Kurt Capewell forced a Payne Haas drop in a tackle and the Maroons hung on for the last 75 seconds.

Having been the better teams for three of the four halves in the series to date, the Blues will now hope to retain the shield on home soil in three weeks’ time.

NSW have not claimed the series in Sydney since 2019.

Queensland’s new captain Cameron Munster, named man of the match, said it was clear “we need to be a lot better” in the decider.

“It was everything you could imagine. Had a really good first half. Second half just shot ourselves in the footy, can’t afford to give that team so much ball,” he said on Nine.

The win has given under-fire Maroons coach Billy Slater the chance to extend his tenure with another series triumph.

Slater made the bold call to axe long-time skipper Daly Cherry-Evans and his replacement Tom Dearden was a positive influence in the first half.

“It was a crazy game. NSW gave us a few penalties in the first half and we took advantage. Second half the momentum completely swung, we were pretty lucky to hold on there,” Dearden said.

“We just had to hold on, they had all the possession and the running in that last 20 minutes. We kept saying we wanted to send it to the decider and that’s what we wanted to do tonight.”

On a frantic night that boiled over on several occasions, Jarome Luai was placed on report for an alleged eye gouge on Reuben Cotter.

Luai appeared to make contact with Cotter’s eye in the first half before Maroons fullback Kalyn Ponga then made a raking action to officials.

That alone summed up the night for the Blues, who at one stage trailed the penalty count 9-0 and had a crucial Nathan Cleary try overturned by an obstruction.

Even still, this was night for the Maroons on a day that began with Slater apologising for press-conference comments that referenced the late Paul Green.

NSW looked as if they were going to continue their form from the series-opening 18-6 win at Suncorp Stadium, crossing first through Brian To’o.

But what followed was an invoking of the Queensland spirit that Origin has largely been built on.

The Maroons attack came to life, with Robert Toia sending Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow over for one and the winger jumping over To’o for another.

Munster scored once when Harry Grant got out of dummy-half, while Kurt Mann offloaded for a Capewell four-pointer before the break.

Capewell’s try looked likely to be a heartbreaker for the Blues, after Cleary had been denied for the obstruction moments earlier.

But any thought Queensland had of cruising to victory was quickly killed off in the second half.

To’o had his second shortly after the break when NSW stripped Queensland for numbers, before Stephen Crichton went through three defenders to make it a 12-point game.

The comeback was then well and truly alive when Cleary and Luai combined to help Latrell Mitchell send To’o over for his third.

And when Mitchell pulled off a one-on-one strip on Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Angus Crichton ran onto a Luai grubberkick, NSW looked set to storm home.

But in the end Queensland stood tall at the death, sealing a famous backs-to-the-wall win to keep hope of winning back the Origin shield.

- with AAP