Yes and no.
Origin has gone into Game III with the series already decided on 18 occasions. There have been seven 3-0 sweeps, but 11 times the side “playing for pride” has come out on top, which tells you something about the desperation of those teams.
Aside from trying avoid becoming one of the rare teams to have been completely shut out, there is always something to play for.
There are moments like Steve Mortimer’s first time as NSW captain 1984, Queensland legend Bob Lindner’s farewell match in 1993, and the Maroons’ then-record 36-6 win in 2003.
But the most famous dead-rubber moment came in 2009.
With about two minutes left in the series, with the shield retained by Queensland and the Blues up 28-16 in the third game, Brett White and Steve Price got in a punch-up and White knocked Price out. In the instant between White’s punch connecting and Price going down, Trent Waterhouse sprinted in from behind Price and tackled him around the neck and to the ground.
With Price out cold on the ground and a fracas breaking out all around him, Blues prop Justin Poore picked Price’s limp body up by the jersey and dropped him to the ground, adding more fuel to the fire.
Queensland got the penalty and booted it downfield, but when they got the ball back from the sideline to tap it about 40 metres from the tryline, Cameron Smith bombed high in the air to completely innocent Blues fullback Kurt Gidley, who copped hell from fired-up Maroons defenders and another melee broke out, with the game eventually ending.
Then-Queensland captain Darren Lockyer explained recently on the Bloke In A Bar podcast that Smith’s bomb and Gidley’s subsequent mauling was the result of a miscommunication. Whether you believe that is up to you.
dan