New South Wales Blues head coach Michael Maguire has paid credit to his players after a physical victory in the 2024 State of Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night.
In a game that had it all from start to finish, the Blues didn't hit the front until they scored the opening try of the game in the 65th minute, but then quickly managed to add another one before completing the Origin win by holding the Maroons tryless on home soil.
Maguire said post-game that the team had come a long way since Game 1 when they were blown out of the water at home after an early send-off.
"I'm super happy for the players. It was incredible. Just had a special moment with the players, and we had a chat about where we started to where we are now," Maguire said.
"To have the players. I guess in Sydney, we planned that we were going to get a result there [in Game 1], then after six or seven minutes, the game went sideways a little bit. To see the players back up from that, then go down to Melbourne and back up from that, then go out there and fight like they did today. I've got a very special group of players."
The game is just the third time New South Wales has won a decider in Brisbane and breaks a run of six straight decider losses at Suncorp Stadium.
Maguire admitted the performance was one of the best from a Blues side in the history of State of Origin.
"I think it's probably up there, or if not one of the best defensive performances to have Queensland not score. They had to work really hard to be able to create that. If you look at the team Queensland have, they have a lot of attacking weapons there and the players just worked really hard for each other," Maguire said.
"The players know how hard they work for each other, and that's something I've seen in this group with what they are prepared to do for each other and their state. We had a lot of discussions around how we wanted to look. That's a credit to the leaders, and I must admit, they are all leaders.
"The journey has just been great. We got out to the people of New South Wales, and we definitely felt the people of New South Wales were really behind us."
Captain Jake Trbojevic, questioned for his limited role, echoed his coach and admitted it was the biggest highlight of his career.
"It feels pretty cool. I'm just really excited for everyone. A lot of hard work went into this whole campaign. Some real good life experience for us all, and everyone just bought into it, so much hard work, and the way we went after the game today was so impressive. Defensively outstanding. To keep a Queensland strike with so much strike tryless, it's just incredible. I'm really proud to be a part of this great side, and be the captain," Trbojevic said.
