QUEENSLAND winger Dane Gagai scored a hat-trick of tries and Corey Oates added another as the Maroons won game two to clinch the series over New South Wales in Brisbane.

Gagai scored the only try of the first half and added two more in the second as the Maroons won an epic encounter at Suncorp 26-16. It was Queensland's 20th series win and their 10th in the last 11 years.

For the Maroons it was the usual suspects who turned up, with Johnathan Thurston, Cameron Smith, Darius Boyd and Greg Inglis all having superb outings.

And their attacking brilliance was required in the closing stages after a runaway James Maloney intercept try in the 68th minute brought the Blues back within striking distance of an unlikely victory.

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Maloney’s conversion brought the scoreline back to 20-16 and his 90 metre run had the potential to be deflating for Queensland after they worked so hard to gain the ascendency in the second half.

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The NSW five-eighth plucked the ball out of the air after gagai had caught a cross-field kick from Cooper Cronk and tried to unload it to his right edge partner in crime Justin O’Neill.

O’Neill is a known speedster but he was unable to make any ground on Maloney as he ran around to ground the ball between the sticks.

It was a huge momentum swing and the Blues went within a fingertip of levelling up with their next attack as Maloney put an awkward grubber into the in-goal and O’Neill was unable to secure it, knocking the ball back towards the dead ball line.

Michael Jennings slipped over as he scrambled to get to the ball and he narrowly missed as he swiped at it, with Tyson Frizell just behind him.

As Frizell went to dive on it though, Jennings took another swipe and this time he got a fingernail on it, knocking the ball on just before Frizell grounded it for what would have otherwise been a try.

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It was a killer blow and it steeled Queensland for a final push for victory.

They didn’t have to wait long to be certain of it with a breathtaking sweep play engineered by Thurston and Boyd creating an overlap on their left edge, even as NSW appeared to have a one-man advantage on that side.

By the time Boyd had emerged with the ball out the back, the NSW defence had been sucked away from the sideline to take care of the decoy runners and winger Oates had a saloon passage to the line to score the match winner in the 73rd minute.

Fittingly, Thurston potted his third sideline conversion of the night and at 26-16 the Maroons had the 10-point buffer that would kill off the game.

It was the high octane finish the match deserved at the end of a far more absorbing contest than game one served up.

NSW were far more adventurous right from the start but they were never really able to turn their momentum into points.

After a strong opening salvo from the Maroons, who went to a 2-0 lead through a Thurston penalty goal, the Blues started to find their feet and dominated most of the rest of the half, throwing wave after wave at attack at the Queenslanders who scrambled superbly to absorb the pressure.

NSW were forced to settle for penalty goals and they took a 4-2 lead at the 15 minute mark but it was the Maroons who got over the line first with a runaway intercept try from Gagai who pounced on a loose moment from Michael Jennings who attempted to throw an offload as he was being driven back in a tackle on Queensland’s 10 metre line.

It was too hot for Josh Mansour to handle and Gagai picked off the crumbs, running 80 metres to score despite an incredible chase from debutant Tyson Frizell, who ankle tapped the Maroons winger just inside NSW’s 10 metre line, causing him to lose balance as Blake Ferguson tried to bundle him into touch but to no avail.

Frizell was outstanding throughout and it was his 57th minute try that sparked the Blues to life after Gagai had scored his second soon after half-time, exposing a terrible defensive read from Jennings who bolted up out of the line allowing Boyd to pop the ball over the top for his unmarked winger.

But the Maroons again answered, this time through the genius of Thurston, whose deft angled kick close to the try-line was perfectly weighted for Gagai to dive on the ball for his hat-trick.

See how the game unfolded!

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