With an aggregate score of 58-24 across the first two games and a NSW coach with one foot out the door, the prospect of a 3-0 sweep looked increasingly likely for Billy Slater's Maroons 2023 Maroons.
With back-to-back Origin series victories already confirmed for Queensland, the first whitewash in over a decade stood before them when they travelled to Sydney to take on the Blues.
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However, Slater's men were unable to carve their name into history and join the illustrious sides of the past who managed to achieve the rare feat after going down 24-10.
When was the last clean sweep in State of Origin?
Predictably, the most recent 3-0 drubbing came in the middle of Queensland's eight-year Origin reign.
The last clean sweep took place in the 2010 State of Origin series when the Maroons lifted the shield for the fifth year in a row.
Darius Boyd scored the most tries with three, while Johnathan Thurston picked up 24 points and Slater was awarded the Wally Lewis Medal as Player of the Series.
Every State of Origin clean sweep
| Year | Winner |
| 1986 | New South Wales |
| 1988 | Queensland |
| 1989 | New South Wales |
| 1995 | Queensland |
| 1996 | New South Wales |
| 2000 | New South Wales |
| 2010 | Queensland |