Nathan Cleary silenced his critics as he helped NSW crush Queensland 34-10 in Sydney to force a State of Origin decider.
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Many pundits had called for the playmaker to be dropped, but coach Brad Fittler stuck with Cleary and he repaid that faith, playing a crucial role in the lead-up to the Blues' three first-half tries as they levelled the three match series.
The game threatened to boil over when Payne Haas and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui were sin-binned in the second half for throwing punches that sparked an all in scuffle.
Cleary had been criticised by Origin great Andrew Johns for his performance in NSW loss in the opening match but Fittler was always confident he would get the job done.
"A lot of people think he's got a really good character ," Fittler said.
"He's a tough kid, he just handled it.
"It's great for the future of Penrith and the Blues."
"I think we blocked that (talk) out pretty well this week," Cleary said.
"That's the pleasure of kind of being away in camp, surrounded by a great bunch of blokes, great coaching staff and just have to focus on ourselves.
"It's no different this week. We haven't done anything yet, still got a game to win up in Queensland."
The Queensland coach Wayne Bennett concedes they were outplayed but he believes they will be a better side in next week's decider in Brisbane.
"They out-enthused us, much better than we were," Bennett said.
"I don't think anyone lost any confidence in themselves. They all know they can play better than they did tonight."