Why the hell is Nathan Cleary so mentally incapable of producing a performance that great in a State of Origin game?

He was deadset buried alive for an hour, then fair dinkum grabbed the premiership by the balls in the last 20 minutes and inspired on one of the greatest comebacks of the modern era to complete the first Threepeat in two generations.

The Broncos didn’t hand the Panthers the game from 24-8 up, Nathan Cleary ripped it out of their hands through sheer force of will, while his halves partner was injured and his co-captain was seeing stars.

If Cleary could inspire a team like that every time he pulled on a sky blue jersey, he’d be an Immortal before he even retired, Brad Fittler wouldn’t have jumped before he got pushed, and the state of Queensland would be drinking Tooheys.

Instead, he’ll have to settle for the less honourable title of Mayor of Penrith.…

And Queenslanders will keep drinking XXXX and celebrating 2 Origin wins in a row, while trying to forget the fact that the Broncos blew a 24-8 lead in 17 minutes.