The final State of Origin game of the year may have seen fewer Penrith Panthers players than ever before, but a member of the club made a surprising appearance.

Dual NRL premiership-winning coach Ivan Cleary was spotted minutes before kick-off entering the coach's box via Wide World of Sports, dressed in an NSW Blues tracksuit alongside Brad Fittler.

Cleary, who can easily be seen as the best current coach in the game, provided advice to the NSW Blues coach during the game. However, Sydney Morning Heraldย has reported that a NSWRL official said the Penrith coach "has no official role".

After pulling off a remarkable win against the Queenslanders, Fittler was questioned on Cleary's role in the coaches' box. While he revealed there was plenty of dialogue between the two, he didn't divulge any specific of their conversations.

"I just asked him if he'd come and sit in the box," he said.

"I'm impressed with him, the way he handles games and I thought he might be able to help tonight."

"I asked him a lot of questions โ€ฆ he came up with some pretty good answers."