After finding themselves on the wrong side of a few controversial decisions Queensland have been left ponder what might have been in the aftermath of Wednesday night's 26-18 loss to NSW.
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The game's sliding doors moment arrived in the 68th minute when Greg Inglis electrified the 91,000-strong crowd when he took off on a 90-metre dash across the MCG turf.
However the ball was called all the way back after Michael Morgan was judged to have knocked on while tackling Mitchell Pearce. The video referee deemed there was sufficient evidence to overturn the original on-field call of 'try'.
Moments later Aaron Woods put in some fancy footwork to slice through the Queensland line and ensure we head to Suncorp Stadium in three weeks time for a decider.
It was that game-changing moment 12 minutes from time that left the Maroons with a bitter taste after the game.
"I didn't think it was a knock on," Cameron Smith said.
"I thought when the ball came out it headed towards our try line that the Blues were attacking but I was wearing a Maroons jersey though wasn't I?"
His coach was inclined to agree.
"It was awarded a try and there was a lot of doubt whether it was knocked on but we didn't get the rub of the green tonight," Maroons mentor Mal Meninga said.
"A lot of things went against us and the opposition capitalised on it."
However in the Blues press conference, NSW captain Paul Gallen laughed off suggestions the try could have stood, saying there were "two or three things" wrong with it, with coach Laurie Daley arguing it should have been an offside penalty.
"Nate [Myles] touched the ball... it hit Guerra's foot and GI was offside so there could have been two or three things, it wasn't a try," Gallen said.
Controversy aside, both Maroons coach and captain were left to rue the eight errors from their side, a significant number of which were committed inside their own territory.
Their 76 per cent completion rate was also a significant drop off from their Game One victory where they finished with 88 per cent.
"We made some crucial errors at crucial times which allowed NSW into the game and they were good enough to capitalize on that," Smith said.
"That is the easiest thing going into Game Three, if we can get those mistakes that we made, fix them and train them out of us hopefully that makes us a better side for Game Three.
"I spoke to the boys after the game and said 'look it's not all doom and gloom, the series is still alive, it's one each'.
"The effort we put in Game One put us in this position to get up to Brisbane and try and win the series so I'm sure the boys are looking forward to getting up there."
The Maroons will have three weeks to lick their wounds before the series heads to Suncorp Stadium for the decider on July 8.
