In front of a crowd of 90,084 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, an emphatic first half paved the way for the New South Wales Blues to force a live State of Origin decider.
The game was all but over at halftime, with the Blues heading into the dressing rooms leading 34 points to 0.
The scoreline - on the back of a dominant performance - saw six first half tries for the Blues with the Maroons not having a single tackle in the opposition 20 during the first 40 minutes.
The return of Cameron Murray, inclusion of Mitchell Moses, performance of Payne Haas and work of the outside backs paved the way for New South Wales to spend most of the opening half camped on the Maroons' line.
Queensland's defence stood tough for the first ten minutes before Liam Martin crashed over off a Mitchell Moses short ball and with it, Queensland's resilience sailed out the window.
Brian To'o would be the second to score, with he and Zac Lomax both crossing for first half doubles, while Latrell Mitchell also scored before the teams went to the dressing rooms.
The score was the biggest first half margin in the history of State of Origin as Mitchell Moses and Jarome Luai continued to pull the strings for the Blues who were in a must-win position after their horror Game 1 loss.
The Maroons weren't helped during the first half by an injury for Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, who did come back onto the park after the halftime break.
The second half saw a lot of the air go out of the game, with the Maroons managing to hit back in a contest that was already over.
Jeremiah Nanai from short range in what was one of his first touches of the football for the night, and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow from long range, saw the Maroons get off a duck egg, with the tries coming shortly after a pair of controversial sin bins.
The two teams came together just moments after being warned for doing the same thing by Ashley Klein, and both Liam Martin and Patrick Carrigan paid the price.
The Blues would steady the ship as debutant Dylan Edwards crossed in the 61st minute, before Murray Taulagi brought the lead back to 20 with a little over ten minutes to play.
A decider will now be played at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday, July 17.
Match summary
New South Wales Blues 38 (Tries: Liam Martin, Brian To'o [2], Zac Lomax [2], Latrell Mitchell, Dylan Edwards; Conversions: Zac Lomax 5/7) defeat Queensland Maroons 18 (Tries: Jeremiah Nanai, Hamiso Tabai-Fidow, Murray Taulagi; Conversions: Valentine Holmes 3/3)
