‘You’re in Queensland now’: Tino’s cheeky send-off for battered Blues

The game was all but over and the Origin shield retained, but with time ticking down at Suncorp Stadium, Maroons forward Tino Fa'asuamaleaui was determined to show no mercy to New South Wales.

After the Titans skipper put a huge tackle on Isaah Yeo, forcing him to cough up the ball and deny Brad Fittler's side their last attacking chance, he turned to the scoreboard and threw a wave to the Blues' supporters bay.

“Yeah, it was just a bit of a cheeky moment and I probably regret it now, but in the moment, I was just so excited and happy to get the win,” Fa’asuamaleaui said.

“They were giving it to me, and they have been giving it to me for a long time.

“At the kick-offs they were giving it to me and that was just my way to let them know that ‘you're in Queensland now’.

“It was just a fun moment. You do get caught up in the emotion; it’s all love at the end of the day.

“We tried not to get caught up in all that [targeting by the Blues]. We knew we had to do a job and that's what we were all focused on the most.”

Fa'asuamaleaui's final minute efforts were no different to his attitude throughout the contest, making a conscious focus on jumping on several loose balls throughout the match to win back possession for his side. 

"You never question the mentality, you have to do it," Fa’asuamaleaui said.

“You have to do it for Queensland.

“There are a lot of small moments in that game and it wasn't just me, there was a lot of other little moments that you don't even question. 

“We never stop playing. We make sure that we play all the way into the siren and even that last set there where there was 20 seconds left, we were still defending like we were in the first 10 minutes. That is our mentality."

"I'm blown away by how hard our middle unit work and their movements," coach Billy Slater said of his side's bookends.

"We watch their training and as a coaching staff, we sometimes think 'this is too good to be true, this is happening too well'.

"That's the engine room for your resilience on your try-line and the continually turning up. It takes more an athleticism and more than talent; it takes ticker, concentration and those players, they're the heart and soul of the team."

Fa'asuamaleaui will be hoping to wave one final goodbye to Blues fans again on July 12 when the Maroons eye off a potential series whitewash for just the fifth time in Origin history and the first since their 3-0 victory in 2010.

New South Wales have not lost back-to-back Origins on home soil since dropping the opening games of the 2015 and 2016 series.

"The job's still not done," Fa’asuamaleaui said, firing a warning shot for Origin III.

"We've still got a job to do in Game Three. It's not going to be easy but we'd like to do a clean sweep, 100 percent. That's why we want to play footy."