Origin quarter by quarter: How Maroons gained edge in enthralling series

After Queensland's remarkable Origin triumph, NRL.com Stats has broken the series down into quarters to highlight the ebbs and flows of a memorable three-game battle.

After one of the most surprising series in the concept's 40-year history, a look at key metrics such as points, line breaks, total metres, total tackles and tackle effectiveness by 20-minute period reveals neither team was able to dominate for long stretches.

Scoring the 12 quarters like boxing rounds reveals the Maroons edged NSW by the narrowest of margins over the balance of the series.

Quarter by quarter

Quarter 1

The Blues started slightly better in Adelaide and cashed in with an opportunistic try to Damien Cook but Queensland's two try saves in this period would eventually prove crucial, as would their ability to force the Blues into making more tackles. Score: NSW 10-9

Quarter 2

Josh Addo-Carr crossed for the Blues' second just moments into the quarter as they started to run the Maroons ragged, making far more metres (501-388) and busts (11-4) as the Maroons could only just hang on, adding another crucial try-save in a period otherwise totally dominated by the Blues. NSW 10-8

Quarter 3

Half time did the trick for Queensland, who suddenly had the wind at their backs. They scored two tries through AJ Brimson and Xavier Coates against none for the Blues, running for far more metres (660-426) and forcing NSW into making 20 more tackles. Qld 10-8

Quarter 4

A tough round to score as the Blues finished strongly, running comfortably more metres and making two line breaks to zero. But points-wise, Queensland edged the quarter 6-4 thanks to a declined conversion from NSW and added yet another pivotal try save as they clung to a desperate win, so we had to give them the win this round – just. Qld 10-9

Quarter 5

Queensland started better and scored just seven minutes in through Coates before Cody Walker pinned a try back for NSW. This time it was the Blues with two crucial try saves while Queensland comfortably held more ball, forcing the Blues into an extra 27 tackles and making twice as many busts. Another tough round to score. Qld 10-9

Quarter 6

Arguably the most dominant quarter of the series as the Blues hit the afterburners. James Tedesco scored in the 22nd minute and Addo-Carr nabbed his third of the series just before half time as NSW utterly dominated the yardage game (661 metres to 211) and busts (16-3), forcing Queensland into twice as many tackles. It was the only perfect quarter of the series in terms of discipline too, with NSW conceding zero errors or penalties in that 20 minutes. NSW 10-8

Quarter 7

More dominance from NSW, who scored straight after half time through Jack Wighton and again through Dan Tupou, running more metres, making two line breaks to none and forcing Queensland into 17 more tackles. NSW 10-9

Quarter 8

Game two may have finished with a huge win to NSW but the Maroons never stopped trying and arguably had the better of the final quarter – which finished 6-all with tries to Josh Papalii and Addo-Carr. The Maroons made one more line break and had a better tackle percentage to edge the quarter. Qld 10-9

Quarter 9

The Blues were lucky to get away with a 6-6 scorecard after totally missing the jump at Suncorp to start game three. Queensland totally dominated the metres and possession and it was only the fact the tries finished one-apiece (through Val Holmes and Tedesco) that saved NSW from a 10-8 round. Qld 10-9

Quarter 10

Things started to slip away from NSW here, and it was only their two try-saves that stopped them losing the quarter by more than six points (via an Edrick Lee try). Queensland ran for 200 more metres, tackled better and were more disciplined. Qld 10-8

Quarter 11

The Blues needed to flip things after half time the way the Maroons did in game one but they just couldn't get back in it. Tenacious defence stopped Queensland adding more than a penalty goal to the scoreboard but the Maroons had the better of the yardage, the tackle count and the discipline with NSW producing their second-sloppiest quarter of the series. Qld 10-9

Quarter 12

Looking dead and buried, the Blues needed a massive finish and, somehow, they found it. A lift in intensity turned the tide and they were somehow able to apply the blowtorch to Queensland in the final 10 minutes. They totally dominated run metres and force Queensland into twice as many tackles, forced three errors and won the penalty count 4-0 including a sin bin. But for a couple of poor pieces of execution from NSW and desperate defence from Queensland, the game could so easily have gone to extra time. NSW 10-8

Final score

After clinging to tight wins in games one and three despite a convincing loss in Sydney, the Maroons edge our quarter-by-quarter breakdown by a single point, 112-111, in what was a thrilling end to a tumultuous year.