Gagai steps up again as Maroons hero

Some players grow an arm and a leg when they pull on a Maroons jersey and two-try hero Dane Gagai proved yet again he is one of them in a man-of-the-match display in Queensland's 18-14 comeback win over NSW.

Gagai took his try-scoring tally in Origin football to 11 tries in as many games with his tries in the 67th and 72nd minutes giving the Maroons the ascendancy.

The first, with the scores locked at 8-all, secured a virtual 12-point swing when he waited for Blues utility Jack Wighton to pass to an unmarked Josh Addo-Carr.

Instead, Gagai swooped and raced 95 metres to score a match turning four-pointer.

"I saw Jack take Will [Chambers] on the outside and he managed to break away. I just backed myself to go for it," Gagai said.

"I felt there was an opportunity to make a play and I'm glad I made the play, otherwise Addo-Carr was going over untouched.

"Once I got that ball I was just thinking 'back yourself and run'. Once I got to the 50m line I was confident I would get there."

The Rabbitohs star wasn't done there and five minutes later positioned himself perfectly to take a pinpoint Kalyn Ponga cut-out pass.

Gagai still had plenty to do and, with the Blues cover screaming across, got the ball down with one hand centimetres from the touch-in-goal line.

"It is just about the trust I have in the boys on the inside knowing they are going to do their job. It makes my job a lot easier when I'm catching the ball out wide," Gagai said.

And do his job Gagai certainly did for the Maroons.

The Blues kickers, in particular Nathan Cleary, peppered the Maroons back three with bombs but Gagai was faultless under the high ball. 

On the back of his solid takes at the back Gagai gave the Queensland sets plenty of impetus.

He ran for 270 metres from his 18 runs and that included 89 kick return metres.

It was Gagai's 14 tackles with none missed that also played a crucial role in the Maroons victory.

Defending on the right side up against the dangerous Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr, Gagai read the play to perfection and timed when to come in and when to stay out like a real pro.

That is what most impressed Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans the most.

"When you are a winger you want them to do all the tough stuff, and don't get me wrong he scored some great tries tonight, but defensively and his carries out of our own end were fantastic," he said.

"He lights the game up and he is a great team-mate. He has done all the people from Mackay really proud."

Gagai said that it was the final siren that made him happier than his own individual achievements in the game.

"There are a lot of great moments in life but to be honest when that siren goes and when the game was over it was more enjoyable than scoring the tries," he said.

"It was a reward for all the hard work and effort from the boys who chucked on the Maroon jersey, especially the debutants. It was just a great team effort."

Coach Kevin Walters said Gagai was a player he always wanted in his team.

"Dane is just an Origin player. I was talking to a couple of my staff that every game he plays Origin he is in the top two or three players," Walters said.

"He has won numerous awards at this level and that try he scored in the second half very few people in my opinion, with his speed and timing, could have scored.

"We are very fortunate he is in a Queensland jumper."