Any doubts about the future of the State of Origin series have been put to bed at the Telstra Dome with Queensland securing its first series win since 2001 with a thrilling 16-14 victory over NSW.

Staring down the barrel of an unprecedented fourth straight series defeat - which some critics said could threaten the Origin concept - the Maroons rallied with two tries in the final nine minutes to clinch the game with skipper Darren Lockyer fittingly crossing for the matchwinner six minutes from time.

It came on the back of a shocking pass out of dummy half from Blues fullback Brett Hodgson in front of his own sticks, player of the series Lockyer scooping up the loose ball before diving over to secure the Maroons their first back-to-back wins in a series since 1995.

"It was all NSW the first 20 minutes (of the second half) and a great comeback by our guys," Lockyer said.

"It was a great win.

"We knew there was plenty of time and that was the key. We did not panic and just kept working away."

The remarkable comeback came after the Maroons had the stuffing knocked out them by three crucial refereeing decisions immediately after the half time break, at which point the score stood at 4-4.

First interchange prop Tonie Carroll was denied a try 41 seconds after the restart with third official Graeme West ruling giant prop Petero Civoniceva had stripped Eric Grothe of the ball.

Sheer weight of possession eventually told on the Maroons with hometown hero Matt King going over out wide with Hodgson's conversion making it 10-4.

As if that wasn't enough to demoralise the Maroons the video referee came back to haunt them again just three minutes later when Grothe went over for his second try of the night, with plenty of doubt over whether Hodgson had knocked-on a bomb in the lead-up.

But just as they did when down in game one in Sydney, the Maroons clawed their way off the canvas, Thurston coming to life to put man of the match Brent Tate on his way to the tryline in the 71st minute to close the gap to four points before Lockyer's late heroics.

Earlier the Blues forwards responded with a far more committed effort to start the game after being so disappointing in the 30-6 loss in the second match of the series.

Prop Willie Mason made his intentions clear from the outset as he trampled over Maroons opposite Steve Price with his first run of the ball.

But after starting with such promise, Mason finished a shattered man.

"Absolutely gutted, it's unbelievable, I cannot believe it," he said of the result.

"I don't know (where we lost it), (our) mistakes just let them back in the game and we should have put them to the sword but we didn't.

"That's Origin, that's Queensland and it's ridiculous."

The Maroons targeted new Blues five-eighth Mark Gasnier in defence and it eventually led to the game's opening points with a Thurston chip kick brilliantly caught and grounded by Adam Mogg just before his buttock had gone touch in goal.

Thurston again went looking for Mogg in the 26th minute only for Grothe to pluck his pass out of mid air and race 95m to score his first of the night.

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