Queensland coach Billy Slater has admitted his side bettered the expectations he had coming into the series, and has forecast his side aren't done improving yet.
The comments came after the Maroons wrapped up the Origin series in straight sets on Wednesday evening at Suncorp Stadium, hammering the Blues 32 points to 6.
While Brad Fittler will have to fight for his own future as Blues coach, Slater will face no such queries at the Maroons, with two series wins from two appearances.
The Queensland Rugby League have already made it clear they want Slater to re-sign.
The coach said the victory ranked with some of the great Queensland victories after the Maroons spent much of the first half in defence but didn't leak a point before galloping away with the second half in a big win.
"Yeah, proud is an understatement," Slater said.
"I remember sitting in this room after Game 3 last year. I couldn't believe how proud I was with this group of players and what they produced, and they just keep raising the bar.
"We have seen some great Queensland victories and great Queensland performances, but the adversity - and different adversity this time that came from the opposition. They applied pressure in the first half and we were defending our tryline, they would make line breaks and we came up with some big plays including the one from the guy sitting next to me [Daly Cherry-Evans].
"And then the 12 other Queensladners backed him up and got back there to defend their tryline. There are no excuses in this team. There is no worrying about what just happened, it's just about getting on with the job and being resilient, and that's what the people of Queensland do, so we try to reflect that."
The Maroons, who lost the penalty count 9 to 2, had just 46 per cent of the ball and made 38 more tackles than the Blues, fought their way out of a backs-to-the-wall situation to take a ten-nil lead into the halftime break before pushing away with the game.
Slater said it's not the first time Queensland has been up against it statistically.
"I haven't looked at the stats, but I could imagine the penalty count would be ridiculously in their favour as well. The stats weren't great in Game 1. They had six more sets than us, we lost the penalty count ten six, time in opposition half was 15 minutes compared to our seven minutes. Stats have been against this team for a long time, but they just keep rising above it, so that has to impress you," Slater said.
The series win means Queensland has now won three of the last four State of Origin series, with 2021 being the only blip on the radar.
The state won in 2020 under Wayne Bennett prior to the 2021 loss.
Slater said the team had bought into the Queensland spirit, outdoing his expectations, but were also slated for more improvement.
"There is better than that too. They are only getting better this team. This team has created a foundation to their footy that they are just getting started and just building," Slater said.
"They probably exceeded my expectations is the connection they are doing it for. The connection to the colour of the jersey, the connection to these postcodes. The connections to their names on the back. The connection to the people of Queensland.
"At the end of the day, the feeling that we get to feel right now, and that we get to feel to be part of this team, that's only there because it means so much to more than five million people, and we are a part of that. That is why this is so special. This group are playing for a higher purpose than themselves."
Queensland will aim to become just the eighth team to win the Origin series in a whitewash when Game 3 is played at Homebush on July 12.
