Another year, another series defeat for the Blues.

They won the big moments whereas NSW failed to take their chances, and that was the difference in the end.

Here are all the talking points from the match.

1. GAGAI GOES TO TOWN

How easy is this Origin thing?Source:Getty Images

DANE Gagai was the hero for Queensland, scoring a hat-trick of tries. Everyone thought all the traffic would be directed down Queensland’s left edge as they sent Greg Inglis to target Dylan Walker, and while that’s exactly what happened for most of the first half, it was Gagai who got the choccies on the other side of the field.

He scored the night’s first try with an 80m effort after pouncing on a Josh Mansour fumble, streaking down the sideline and managing to crawl over the line after being ankle-tapped by Tyson Frizell. This was completely against the run of play and gave the hosts a 10-4 lead heading into the break.

His second four-pointer came early in the second half as he did well to hang onto a hot pass from Darius Boyd and cross in the corner, while he had Johnathan Thurston’s perfect grubber to thank for his third in the 63rd minute.

The trifecta gave the Newcastle winger five tries in three Origin matches. Greg Inglis is the only other man to have ever boasted such a record after the same number of Origin games.

2. MICHAEL JENNINGS’ NIGHTMARE

The fingertips that cost NSW a try.Source:News Corp Australia

BEFORE the match, Paul Gallen touted Michael Jennings as the man most likely to provide NSW with the spark needed to challenge Queensland on their home turf.

He was wrong.

Nothing went right for the NSW centre in a night he’ll want to forget. His poor judgment led to Gagai’s first runaway try after he juggled a ball and tried to offload when hit hard in a tackle on the left. He should have held onto the ball and taken the tackle, but instead threw a wild pass back to Josh Mansour who had no hope of catching it cleanly.

Gagai took advantage of the fumble and raced away to score.

Things only got worse for the Eels three-quarter when he cost NSW a certain try with some stray fingertips in the second stanza. He fell over chasing a James Maloney grubber into the in-goal after Justin O’Neill knocked the ball backwards, and was followed closely by Tyson Frizell. Frizell looked certain to score and overtook Jennings to ground the ball.

But replays picked up Jennings reaching out with a desperate hand in an effort to ground the ball himself, only to knock the ball forward with the slightest of touches, robbing Frizell of the four-pointer that would have levelled things up at 20 apiece with a kick to come and 10 minutes to play.

Then for good measure, the bunker correctly disallowed NSW a consolation try in the dying minutes because Jennings had knocked on again.

It just wasn’t his night.

3. COREY PARKER’S LAST HURRAH

What a way to go.Source:AAP

“WE wanted to make it a memorable night for him.”

Those were the words spoken by Queensland captain Cameron Smith after the match in reference to teammate Corey Parker, who announced 2016 would be his last year as a professional rugby league player.

A veteran of 16 years in the NRL, knowing it was Parker’s last time on Suncorp Stadium in a Maroon jersey gave the hosts some added motivation to send him off a winner.

He seemed to go through his work in relative anonymity, but the Fox Sports Lab showed him to be the most effective forward on the park. He ran 16 times for 140m, made 25 tackles and missed none.

A typically strong performance from a man who has only gotten better with age, and he received the send off he deserved, chaired off by his teammates as they made their way from the field after full-time.

4. INGLIS VS WALKER

Inglis showing Walker who’s boss.Source:AAP

JOSH Morris has been handed the unenviable task of marking up on Greg Inglis for the majority of his Origin career, but his absence due to injury meant that role was now bestowed upon second-gamer Dylan Walker.

Walker won a starting centre spot after playing only nine minutes from the bench in game one, and he found out the hard way just what a rampaging Inglis looks like.

The veteran Queensland centre didn’t produce the knockout blow, but he certainly earnt a points victory over his younger rival. He palmed the 21-year-old off in the opening minutes and was a constant threat.

Walker gave away three penalties in the first 20 minutes — one for tackling Inglis without the ball and the others for interfering in the ruck when Inglis or winger Corey Oates had been tackled — doing nothing to silence the critics who questioned why a man with mediocre club form heading into the series opener was being given another shot in game two.

He improved in the second half, but there was one moment where Inglis let him know who the real star of the show was. The Rabbitohs player pulled Walker down by the collar as he threatened to poke through the line, before holding onto his jersey and dragging him like a rag doll across to the sideline, a la Gorden Tallis with Brett Hodgson.

He stayed in thanks to some help from his winger Blake Ferguson, but it was symptomatic of Walker’s inability to have any significant influence on rugby league’s biggest stage.

5. FRIZELL MAKES AN IMPRESSION

Frizell will wear the sky blue jersey again.Source:Getty Images

MUCH will change after NSW’s 10th series loss in 11 years, but one thing is for certain — we will see Tyson Frizell in a sky blue jersey again.

The debutant wasn’t fazed by the cauldron that is 55,000 Queenslanders baying for your blood at Suncorp Stadium, pulling off a couple of memorable plays.

The most significant won’t go down as having any impact on the scoreboard, but it had Origin footy written all over it. When Dane Gagai plucked the ball out of the air 20m out from his own line and made a beeline for the other end with nothing but thin air in front of him, nobody would have backed the speedy winger to be chased down.

But Frizell didn’t care. Giving up a five metre headstart, he chased Gagai all the way.

It was a winger against a bulky back-rower — it should have been a no-contest. But the Dragons forward showed incredible leg speed to stay on Gagai’s tail for the entire run down the sideline.

When he was 10m out from the tryline, Frizell made a desperate lunge and managed to just clip the Queenslander’s ankles, sending him to the turf inches out from the paint and almost putting him into touch.

It gave Blake Ferguson enough time to swoop in with an attempted cover tackle to push Gagai over the sideline, but in the end, Gagai was good enough to get the ball over the line.

Yes, it was all for nothing in the end, but people will remember that play for a long time to come.

Frizell scored a try of his own when he showed smarts to trail up in support of his halfback, getting a ball from Adam Reynolds and crashing over the line in the second half. He almost scored a second too had it not been for Michael Jennings’ stray fingers.

The Fox Sports Lab had him running 54m from six hit-ups and making 19 tackles.

He’s a good’un, this one.

6. PENALTIES GALORE

The refs exerted plenty of energy blowing their whistles.Source:News Corp Australia

ICONIC referee Bill Harrigan was interviewed before the game outside Suncorp Stadium and he had one piece of advice for the officials in Wednesday night’s game — keep the whistle in the pocket and let the game flow.

Well, the first half was basically the opposite of that. It was penalties galore in the opening quarter, as the refs were vigilant — some would say overly so — in policing the ruck and 10m.

At one point around the 20 minute mark the Blues conceded penalties in four consecutive sets of six. That was why the score stood at 4-4 as both sides kicked two penalty goals each to open their accounts.

The poor discipline on show made the game tough to watch as play was constantly halted. NSW had the upper hand for much of the first term, but they were forced to do unnecessary defensive work by giving away silly penalties.

Both sides were better behaved in the second half, with Queensland winning the overall penalty count 7-5.

7. WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Nothing can stop the Maroons.Source:Getty Images

EVERY year it gets asked if the Queenslanders are past it. Too old, too slow, too battered. Their core players have formed a nucleus that’s been behind their decade of dominance, and every year someone will suggest that dominance can’t last forever — but it sure seems like it does.

Another chapter was etched into the Maroons’ dynasty — an era that will live in the annals of history long after the current crop of players have given the game up. The end is nowhere in sight for long-suffering Blues players and fans.

After every series loss NSW is urged to look to the future. Look to youth. They did that this time around — blooding six debutants in the first two matches — but look where it got them. A series that was lost before the third game.

Paul Gallen will be gone come 2017. And maybe Robbie Farah and Greg Bird too, possibly Michael Jennings. Inevitably, new players will come in to fill the void, but if it’s youth the NSW selectors are after, how much longer are they willing to wait to cultivate a dynasty of their own?

Adam Reynolds did his shoulder in the loss and will miss game three, so a replacement halfback will have to be found. Mitchell Pearce — himself a veteran of losing series — is an option there. No other young playmaker is screaming out to get chosen.

It’s too easy to say young talent is the way forward. To say young talent will bring long term success. When you’ve lost 10 of 11 series, long term success isn’t really a simple excuse for supporters to swallow — you need to arrest the slide fast.

It seems impossible that NSW could find a magical winning recipe in time for 2017. So yes, they will have to look towards the future, but after the run they’ve had, good luck finding people willing to put up with three to five more years of failure in the hope of winning the shield down the track.

They need players who can perform now.

But for the moment, it seems nothing can stop the Queensland juggernaut.