Get ready for a Munster smash

THE Big Three may now be the Big Four after Maroons debutant Cameron Munster combined with veterans Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater to hand Queensland a miraculous series win.

Obliterated in Game One and needing a miracle to win in Game Two, Queensland were rank outsiders last night heading into the game without talisman Johnathan Thurston and with another two debutants in their ranks.

But they dominated all but 10 minutes of the match, to win 22-6 in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 53,540.

Munster became the third five-eighth used in a series in which Queensland fielded 26 players, more than at any time in the 37-year history of the series.

The young man was supposed to flounder.

But he looked as comfortable in the cauldron as Wally Lewis in the famed No.6.

It was his Storm teammate and captain Smith who set the tone early though, playing his best game of the series as he set the benchmark for the Maroons last night.

Queensland were beaten convincingly through the middle in the opening two games and it was crucial they tightened up their defence around the ruck.

They managed that brilliantly last night, not only stopping the likes of Game One hero Andrew Fifita and metre eater David Klemmer but finally winning ground through the ruck.

Smith, who had just two runs for eight metres in the opening two games, had made 41m by half-time, as well as two linebreak assists – one of them resulting eventually in a try for Valentine Holmes, the other only failing to get the same result when Cooper Cronk bobbled the ball just short of the line.

Without Thurston in the mix and with Munster making his debut, Smith stepped up, rising to the challenge in what he knows is the twilight of the Maroons’ golden age.

He finished with nine runs for 56m, two line break assists and 40 tackles to show he is still one of the premier players in the game.

The forwards’ effort finally allowed Queensland’s backs to come into their own.

Holmes scored a hat-trick, Michael Morgan engineered tries, Slater schemed and Cronk kicked with precision.

But it was Munster that took control midway through the second half when the Maroons looked as though they could falter, showing that while the Maroons may be about to lose some of the best players of the past decade, the new brigade is ready to step up.

Queensland had dominated the opening half but scored just twice, butchering two other tries and giving the Blues hope that they could engineer a miraculous comeback.

In the past, the opening 40 minutes may have been enough. Enough to stop the Blues from believing, enough to get a tiring Queensland over the line.

That was never going to be enough last night.

The Blues came out with renewed vigour in the second half, their intensity in defence pinning the Maroons in their own half and handing them opportunities to attack.

Josh Dugan’s act of thievery that had them back in the game though.

Just as the ball was lobbing into the bread basket of winger

Holmes, Dugan brushed off blocker Morgan and came through to pluck the ball from the air to score the Blues’ first try.

Enter Munster.

With the vision of Lewis and Darren Lockyer and the step of Johnathan Thurston, he accelerated through a gaping hole left when Mitchell Pearce shot out of the line and threw a cutout pass to Holmes, whose fingertip control allowed him to gain control of the ball and eventually plant it for his hat-trick.

A late try to Titans forward Jarrod Wallace sealed the match for Queensland and the Maroons shut the Blues down in the final minutes to ensure Thurston’s career had the fairytale ending it deserved.

QUEENSLAND 22 (V Holmes 3, J Wallace tries; C Smith 3 goals) d NSW 6 (J Dugan try; J Maloney goal) at Suncorp Stadium.

Crowd: 52,540 Man of match: Cameron Smith Man of series: Dane Gagai Series: Queensland win 2-1