The highly contentious send-off of Queensland fullback Kalyn Ponga and NSW’s record-breaking comeback from 20 points down is destined to draw attention away from the brilliance of James Tedesco’s match-winner in the dying seconds of the 2026 State of Origin series opener.
From Mark Coyne to Dane Carlaw, Mark McGaw and Tedesco himself, Origin football has produced a cavalcade of iconic go-ahead tries in the latter stages.
So where does Wednesday’s pulsating conclusion rank in the rich pantheon of Origin’s last-gasp tries. Here’s our top 10:
10. Blues snatch controversial win after Tallis send-off (2000)
The 2000 series opener in Sydney unravelled for Queensland on the back of a wildly controversial score-levelling try to Ryan Girdler with 10 minutes remaining.
Replays showed multiple, obvious knock-ons in the lead-up to the try, while the situation spiralled out of control for Queensland when firebrand second-rower Gorden Tallis was sensationally sent off for allegedly calling referee Bill Harrigan ‘a f**king cheat.’
Girdler was unable to convert and the scores stayed locked at 16-all, but the Blues had the momentum with an extra man advantage and surged into Queensland territory in the latter stages.
The shorthanded Maroons ran out of defenders as debutant fullback David Peachey flashed over in the corner in the 77th minute for a 20-16 victory, laying the platform for an eventual NSW 3-0 whitewash.
9. Dead-rubber thriller sends ‘Gal’ out a winner (2016)
An incredible last-gasp finish usually the domain of their opponents delivered a fitting farewell for retiring New South Wales legend Paul Gallen
The Blues, who dominated throughout, looked to have butchered yet another Origin win on home soil when Queensland fullback Darius Boyd scored a 75th-minute try after NSW winger Josh Mansour slipped over while attempting to field a kick.
Blake Ferguson made a break from NSW’s half in the dying stages, and a hot-stepping run by Michael Jennings – after symbolically accepting an offload from Gallen – snatched the morale-boosting 18-14 win with a little over a minute on the clock.
8. Winged ‘JT’ keeps series alive (2017)
Queensland’s reign of 11 series wins in 12 years was brimming with fightbacks from seemingly hopeless positions and NSW bottling late leads. One of the more amazing/agonising instance occurred in the second game of the 2017 rubber.
The Maroons trailed 16-6 during the second half in Sydney, while linchpin Johanthan Thurston was severely hampered by a shoulder injury as the stared down series defeat. But the visitors hung tough and levelled the scores via a 77th-minute try to winger Dane Gagai.
Thurston buried the conversion from the sideline for an 18-16 triumph, the scale of his courage only emerging later as he was ruled out for the rest of the season. It was ‘JT’s’ final act on the Origin stage, but Queensland parlayed it into a convincing 22-6 win in the Brisbane decider.
7. McGaw steals series opener in mad scramble (1987)
NSW debutant Mark McGaw scored Origin’s first great late match-winner after a crazy sequence inside the final 90 seconds of the ’87 series opener at Lang Park.
With the scores locked 16-all, Blues halves Peter Sterling and Brett Kenny combined to create an overlap on Queensland’s 40-metre line. Kenny linked with Andrew Ettingshausen, who put club-mate McGaw away down the sideline.
McGaw’s return pass to ‘ET’ was desperately knocked down by Tony Currie, before the ball ricocheted off Peter Jackson’s boot back into the in-goal.
McGaw and Jackson grappled in a frantic chase, and the Blues centre planted his hand on the ball just inside the dead-ball line. Referee Mick Stone pointed to the spot, to the disbelief of the Maroons players – but replays showed he had made the correct call and NSW went one-up.
6. Soaring Tedesco seals biggest comeback (2026)
Recalled veteran James Tedesco produced the second last-gasp match-winner of his Origin career in one of the most dramatic series openers on record.
Trailing 20-0 early, the door opened for the Blues via Kalyn Ponga’s controversial send-off with 23 minutes remaining for a shoulder-charge on debutant winger Tolu Koula.
NSW clawed back two tries to narrow the gap to four points but butchered multiple opportunities, while Queensland’s gallant goal-line defence in the dying minutes appeared to have clinched a famous shorthanded win.
The Blues had one last throw of the dice with 90 seconds left, however, and Nathan Cleary pumped a bomb towards the Maroons’ try-line, where Tedesco outjumped Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to sensationally grab the ball and scramble over the line.
Cleary knocked over a simple conversion for a 22-20 victory, which represented the biggest comeback in State of Origin history.
5. Queensland goes coast to coast (1998)
Queensland trailed by five points with less than two minutes of the ’98 series opener remaining. Coming off their own line, Maroons five-eighth Kevin Walters produced one of the great all-or-nothing plays, booting the ball downfield.
Ben Ikin won a desperate chase to the ball on halfway, and Queensland worked the ball into NSW’s quarter over the next two rucks. A slick interchange of short passing stretched the Blues and saw Walters send debutant Tonie Carroll over near the posts with 45 seconds on the clock.
Another first-gamer, fullback Darren Lockyer, slotted the pressure conversion after the siren to clinch an extraordinary 24-23 SFS triumph.
The loss brought back harrowing memories for the seven NSW players who endured a last-minute loss at the same venue in the corresponding match four years earlier (see No.1).
4. Pearce redemption as ‘Teddy’ wins it (2019)
Few players endured a more tortured Origin tenure than NSW halfback Mitchell Pearce, who endured losses in his first six deciders before receiving a recall in 2019 to replace the injured Nathan Cleary for game three.
More heartache for Pearce and Blues loomed after Queensland fought back from 20-8 down with nine minutes left to level the scores, debutant back-rower Ethan Lowe’s cool conversion two minutes from fulltime seemingly rendering Origin third instalment of golden point a formality.
But in the dying seconds, a shift on the NSW 30-metre line – with Pearce spotting the overlap and floating a pass – saw Tom Trbojevic release Blake Ferguson down the touchline. Fullback James Tedesco backed up the winger, stepped inside the cover and dived over in the corner with 30 seconds left.
The 26-20 result gave the Blues their first back-to-back series wins and first victory in a decider in 14 years.
3. Carlaw’s charge saves Origin crowd (2002)
NSW snatched an 18-14 lead with five minutes of the 2002 decider to go through a Jason Moodie try, after the video referee had mystifyingly denied Queensland fullback Darren Lockyer a series-sealing try.
But as the clock ticked over into the 80th minute, veteran halfback Allan Langer – playing his 34th and final Origin match – shifted the ball to hard-running backrower Dane Carlaw on the Blues’ 40-metre line.
Carlaw fended off Moodie, strode into open territory and brushed off fullback Brett Hodgson to plunge over for a dramatic try out wide, stunning the Sydney crowd. Lote Tuqiri’s missed conversion after the bell was academic – Queensland retained the shield with the 18-all draw as the current holders.
2. ‘Snoz’ kicks Origin’s greatest goal after ‘Sparkles’ does it again (1991)
Queensland led 12-8 near the end of the gripping, explosive second Origin clash of ’91, played in a Sydney downpour.
But NSW trudged into the Maroons’ quarter on the back of a series of daring offloads, before Ricky Stuart’s long speculative pass found centre Mark McGaw, who angled between three defenders to slide over in the corner.
Michael O’Connor, who missed a conversion from a similar position to draw the series opener and was dropped before injuries gave him a reprieve, brilliantly curled the conversion through from the right touchline to edge the Blues in front with two and a half minutes remaining.
Seldom remembered, however, is the frantic final stages after NSW fumbled the kick-off. Des Hasler narrowly beat Willie Carne to a Langer kick in the Blues’ in-goal, while NSW was forced to rebuff more pressure after the subsequent line dropout with 50 seconds left.
The home side hung on for a dramatic 14-12 win – partially overshadowed by the Wally Lewis-Mark Geyer blow-up at halftime – to level the series.
1. ‘The Miracle’ (1994)
Behind 12-4 after struggling to keep pace with the Blues all night at the SFS, Queensland clung to a glimmer of hope when winger Willie Carne finished off a hot potato try with five minutes to go, reducing the deficit to two points.
The underdogs then concocted arguably the greatest match-winning try in the code’s history in the dying stages.
Starting on their own 40-metre line, the Maroons swept the ball from one sideline to the other and back again, passing through 10 sets of hands before replacement back Mark Coyne stepped the NSW cover defence and reached out to score in the corner.
Queensland had escaped with a 16-12 victory for the ages, and one sure to haunt Blues players and supporters for eternity.