Maroons five-eighth Tarryn Aiken tormented the Sky Blues with her kicking game at a slippery Queensland Country Bank Stadium to clinch the decider in front of a sell-out crowd.
NSW were their own worst enemy on Thursday night, their abysmal ball-handling stymieing any attacking opportunity they created.
Tarryn Aiken (right) was a thorn in the side for NSW on a rainy night in Townsville. (Scott Radford-Chisholm/AAP PHOTOS)
They were unable to adjust to the rainy conditions, guilty of 17 errors and registering a diabolical 59 per cent set completion rate.
Queensland were not without fault, but their 74 per cent completion rate put them comfortably ahead of their opposition.
The Maroons played with much greater intensity and line speed, making 320 post-contact metres to the Sky Blues' 229.
NSW got off to the worst possible start, with fullback Emma Tonegato knocking the ball on in her side's first use of the footy.
Straight from the scrum, Aiken sent Evania Pelite through the Sky Blues defence with a cleverly disguised short pass for the first try of the game.
Evania Pelite strikes early for QLD! 👊— NRLW (@NRLWomens) #Origin Thanks to @goodyear pic.twitter.com/Ha36QtNc0pJune 27, 2024
Pelite was a stand-out for the hosts. The Gold Coast centre ran for 112 metres, made four tackle busts and out-muscled the NSW right edge in defence.
At one point she ploughed Sky Blues centre Jessica Sergis into touch to regain possession.
Queensland continued to pile on the pressure, with Aiken's probing kicking repeatedly finding Tonegato and her fellow outside backs out of position.
Aiken picked up her second try assist later in the first half with a grubber kick bringing some Keystone Cops defending from NSW.
Tonegato made a meal of gathering up the loose ball, kneeing it into teammate Tiana Penitani, with Queensland winger Julia Robinson swooping on the ricochet to ground the easiest of tries.
Queensland celebrate Evania Pelite's early try on their way to Origin glory. (Scott Radford-Chisholm/AAP PHOTOS)
NSW weren't without their promising moments. Queensland gave the visitors plenty of opportunities to strike back, conceding nine penalties to piggy-back the Blues into scoring positions.
But each time NSW looked a chance of finding some points they contrived to knock the ball on.
A 90-metre Jaime Chapman intercept try in the second half added a bit of jeopardy to the closing minutes but it was too little, too late from the wasteful Sky Blues.
Back-rower Tazmin Rapana sealed the game three minutes before the fulltime whistle, crashing over to cue jubilant Queensland celebrations.
The victory completed an unlikely turnaround for Tahnee Norris's side after they were outplayed by NSW in Origin I and required a late comeback to salvage the series in game two.
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