It was as if both he and the entire Blues team spent the week listening to NSW Immortal Andrew Johns.

Everything he said they should do, they did. (Well, except the bit about dropping Cleary.)

And it worked. They thrashed Queensland 34-10 in front 36,212 fans at Sydney Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night.

Cleary kicked early, backed by an excellent kick chase, to turn the Maroons around and repeatedly put them on the back foot.

They brought extra energy, which was evident from the very first set.

And they attacked Queensland's left edge, where they had second-rower and game one-hero Kurt Capewell defending in the centres.

It levels the series with the decider to be played at Lang Park next Wednesday.

The Blues will have to win a decider in enemy territory for the first time since 2005.

And NSW coach Brad Fittler will have to get his first win in charge there.

There was even some biff back, with both teams losing a player to the sin bin when Payne Haas planted a couple of punches on Tino Faasuamaleaui's chin.

And the Queensland prop planted one back.

That Blues energy cost Queensland one of the main cogs, when Maroons five-eighth Cameron Munster was slammed into the ground catching a Cleary chip in-goal.

He wobbled his way back to his feet and failed his head injury assessment to never return.

It meant Ben Hunt had to come off the bench and fill in in the halves alongside Daly Cherry-Evans.

Maroons fullback Valentine Holmes was also cut in half taking a kick, but he looked good in the No.1 jersey when he got his chances.

But despite all the NSW physicality, it was the Queenslanders who scored first.

Some nice work by Cherry-Evans and Dane Gagai freed up the smallest of spaces for Origin rookie Xavier Coates to fly into for a spectacular try - perform a complete somersault to touch down in the corner.

The Blues targeted him with some high balls, which he struggled with at times.

Capewell again looked dangerous with the ball in the opening exchanges, but he was found wanting in defence as the Blues cashed in on five consecutive sets.

The game-one star ended up with 162m and was the Maroons best metre eater.

Fittler brought Cody Walker into the side at the expense of Luke Keary and he was too slick for Capewell, stepping around the usual second-rower to put the home side in front.

Blues fullback James Tedesco marked his first game as NSW captain with a try - stepping Hunt to score.

Tedesco was excellent as usual.

Not only did he run for 237 metres, but he also looked dangerous every time he got the ball.

He also created havoc when he didn't get the ball and was just there as a decoy runner.

Blues second-rower Tyson Frizell also went for an HIA after a head clash with Josh Addo-Carr, but he was able to return.

Cleary's early kicking created enormous pressure for the Maroons to deal with, leading to several goal-line dropouts and a 40-20.

The Blues continued to go to the right, using an attacking scrum to create plenty of room to move - Addo-Carr taking full advantage of it.

It didn't take the Blues long to add to their 18-4 half-time lead.

Dally M Medallist Jack Wighton was much better in the centres in Origin II - although he had to wait until the second half to see much of the ball -and showed his power when he got one back on Gagai.

He beat two Maroons, including Gagai, to score just three minutes into the second half.

Wighton's winger Daniel Tupou got through plenty of work for the Blues and finished with 229 run metres.

He also got a well-deserved try off the back of the scrum as the Blues attacked the Maroons' right for something different.

Some push and shove erupted as Queensland finally had some possession in attack.

It led to it being 14-on-14 for 10 minutes, but didn't have an impact on the result.

Haas was excellent and amassed 159m - despite his 10 minutes in the bin - as part of a Blues pack that dominated.

His front row-partner Daniel Saifiti (125m) was also good, while Angus Crichton (116m) was excellent on the left edge taking over from Boyd Cordner, who will sit out the rest of the series due to a head knock.

Maroons enforcer Josh Papalii scored a consolation try when he barged through Blues hooker Damien Cook, but it mattered little.

Addo-Carr added his second for the night when Queensland winger Phillip Sami let a kick bounce into the corner and the want-away Melbourne flyer pounced.

Cleary then fittingly added two points from a penalty kick to wrap up the win.

The Maroons now have a week to try and turn things around as they return to their home patch after a night where they were well beaten.

No doubt Maroons supercoach Wayne Bennett will already be cooking up how to do exactly that.

AT A GLANCE

NSW BLUES 34 (Josh Addo-Carr 2, Cody Walker, James Tedesco, Jack Wighton, Daniel Tupou tries; Nathan Cleary 5 goals) bt QUEENSLAND BLUES 10 (Xavier Coates, Josh Papalii tries; Valentine Holmes goal) at Sydney Olympic Stadium. Referee: Gerard Sutton. Crowd: 36,212.