Brad Fittler now knows how Wally Lewis felt.
Fifteen years after Mark Coyne’s famous miracle try, NSW star James Tedesco etched own moment in State of Origin folklore by scoring the game-winning try on the final play of Wednesday’s thrilling 26-20 win in the decider.
In front of a sell-out crowd of 82,565 at ANZ Stadium, Tedesco was on the end of a 70-metre movement that began with whipping boy Mitchell Pearce’s courageous looping cutout to Tom Trbojevic in the final minute of play.
Trbojevic passed to Blake Ferguson, who evaded a diving Corey Norman and tiptoed the sideline before finding a supporting Tedesco on the inside.
The Blues star then stepped past Moses Mbye to touch down, ending a run of seven straight heartbreaking defeats in Origin deciders against the Maroons.
Not since 2005 have NSW won game three when the series is on the line, which is also the same year the Blues had last defended their shield.
Asked if Tedesco’s dramatic try would eclipse Coyne’s effort, Fittler said: “That’s for you to discuss.
“Was Wally coaching them? The Queenslanders?
“I reckon I know how Wally felt.”
Coyne’s try involved the ball going through nine sets of hands, and the width of the Sydney Football Stadium, twice, before the Maroons centre touched down.
Legendary commentator Ray Warren famously said in his call of the game-one game-winner: “That’s not a try, that’s a miracle.”
Highlight reels show Lewis, the coach, raising his hands in jubilation in the crowd.
In contrast, Fittler, who was coaching from the sideline, raced onto the field in celebration before the referees forced NSW to take the ensuing conversion.
“I was a bit nervous. I thought, can they take the try off us because I was on the field?.
I was actually on the middle of the field, on my own,” Fittler said.
“It was a first, I think. It was a fantastic moment. Queensland have done that a lot to us and it was nice to get one back.”
Tedesco, who finished the night with two tries and a game-high 222 metres and ten tackle busts, was awarded the Wally Lewis medal as the player of the series.
It was yet another match-winning display that enhanced his reputation as a big-game player, having also starred in the Sydney Roosters’ grand final win last year.
Asked if he thought Tedesco, 26, was the best player in the world, Fittler said: “You gotta say (so) at the moment, if you want to start a debate.
“But he’s got a long way to go. He’s young.
“He had a couple of big injuries early in his career. I could never see the player he is today at all. I just never saw it. (He’s) proved a lot wrong.”
Even losing coach Kevin Walters, who banned his team from saying the word NSW or talk about their players, couldn’t help but praise the Blues No.1.
“He’s had a great series for them, Tedesco. Probably been the standout… well he won the Wally Lewis medal,” Walters said.