Elevated to starting halfback in the must-win Game Two in Perth after coming from the bench in the series opening loss, Tom Dearden stepped up in the decider, claiming the Wally Lewis Medal.
Dearden dominated from start to finish in Game Three, also taking the player of the match honours, scoring two tries and producing some match-winning efforts in defence.
“First of all, I would just like to thank the Blues for a hard-fought series,” Dearden said on the podium after receiving the medal from King Wally himself.
“I'll start by thanking our boys. We had our backs against the wall on the whole series and we really tapped into that Queensland spirit.
“I'm just so proud to be a Queenslander tonight, so, thank you very much.”
Dearden finished the decider with two tries, 148 run metres, a line break and a tackle break as well as 509 kick metres.
Tom Dearden's Game III player of the match performance
From 1992 to 2003, the Wally Lewis Medal was awarded to Queensland's Player of the Origin Series, including Allan Langer three times in 1992, 1996 and 1998 and Darren Lockyer twice (2001 and 2003) before he went on to claim the medal again in 2006.
Since 2004, the Australian Rugby League has honoured the State of Origin Player of the Series with the Wally Lewis Medal, regardless of the state they represent.
Maroons legends Cameron Smith and Billy Slater are the only multiple winners of the prestigious award, with Smith saluting on four occasions - 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2016.
Dearden is there again!
The Honour Roll
2004 Craig Fitzgibbon (NSW)
2005 Anthony Minichiello (NSW)
2006 Darren Lockyer (QLD)
2007 Cameron Smith (QLD)
2008 Johnathan Thurston (QLD)
2009 Greg Inglis (QLD)
2010 Billy Slater (QLD)
2011 Cameron Smith (QLD)
2012 Nate Myles (QLD)
2013 Cameron Smith (QLD)
2014 Paul Gallen (NSW)
Gallen talks NSW victory
2015 Corey Parker (NSW)
2016 Cameron Smith (QLD)
2017 Dane Gagai (QLD)
2018 Billy Slater (QLD)
2019 James Tedesco (NSW)
2020 Cameron Munster (QLD)
2021 Tom Trbojevic (NSW)
2022 Patrick Carrigan (QLD)
2023 Reuben Cotter (QLD)
2024 Angus Crichton (NSW)
2025 Tom Dearden (QLD)
