Vodafone Warriors wing Ken Maumalo bagged a hat-trick as the Intrust Super Premiership NSW Residents side defeated Queensland 30-16 on the back of an explosive second-half performance at Langlands Park in Brisbane on Sunday.
Josh Drinkwater earned Channel 9 man of the match honours with a sublime performance at halfback while Justin Hunt was incredible at the back.
Maumalo was joined in the NSW side by Vodafone Warriors team-mates Matt Allwood and Shaun Lane.
The Blues got out to a dream start with the opening kick-off of the match being knocked on by Queensland.
Another early Queensland error allowed the NSW boys to build pressure, forcing their opposition to continually defend.
Maumalo then opened the scoring for the Blues after he finished off a picture perfect right-to-left shift that was simply beautiful to watch.
Abraham Papalii went close soon after, charging towards the line and going over, but the video referee supported the decision that he was held up.
Elijah Taylor put his stamp on the match when he received a great offload to make a line-break, his quick play the ball causing an automatic overlap as the ball shifted to Maumalo's wing once more for the big winger to get the ball down.
As both conversions were missed, Queensland was able to cut the deficit to 6-8 when Jahrome Hughes scored.
The Blues immediately hit back when Asipeli Fine crashed over before a late Queensland try meant New South Wales went into half-time leading 14-10.
A Wests Tigers combination came in handy to start the second half with Hunt bursting through the line, drawing the fullback and passing the ball to Drinkwater who was lingering in support.
Maumalo recorded his hat-trick just moments later, despite the video referee taking a long time to confirm the put-down was correct.
Jordan Drew believed he had a try shortly afterwards but he was ever so slightly in front of the kicker and was ruled offside.
After another missed chance the try of the afternoon came through interchange forward Dylan Kelly, who burned defenders to run the length of the field and put down the match-sealing try.
Queensland scored a late consolation try but it was all New South Wales at Langlands Park with the Blues flying home with the shield.
Match details | Suzuki Stadium, Langlands Park, Brisbane
Queensland Residents 16 (Jahrome Hughes, Jack Svendsen, Darren Nicholls tries; Darren Nicholls 2 conversions).
Intrust Super Premiership NSW Residents 30 (Ken Maumalo 3, Asipeli Fine, Josh Drinkwater, Dylan Kelly tries; Shaun Nona 3 conversions).
Halftime: 14-10 NSW.
- This article was first published on nswrl.com.au
