New South Wales' hopes of winning their first State of Origin league series since 2005 plummeted when Queensland gave them a 26-6 drubbing in game two to take the series to a deciding third match.
But the Blues skipper Paul Gallen said it was embarrassing that Queensland's four-tries-to-one victory had been overshadowed by the sin-binning of four players in the 54th minute under the NRL's new hardline stance on fighting.
The major talking point was about a crunch Origin match being reduced to 11-a-side "touch football" following the second half binning of Queensland's Justin Hodges and Brent Tate and New South Wales' Trent Merrin and Greg Bird.
Before the game erupted, Queensland had opened up an 18-0 lead after 48 minutes, but the mood changed dramatically after the Maroon's fullback Billy Slater was placed on report for appearing to lash out with his elbow when he was tackled by Mitchell Pearce, opening a cut under the Blues halfback's eye.
Jonathan Thurston played a starring role as the Maroons playmaker after being in hoispital on the eve of the match with a stomach bug.
