It's time for the NSW Blues to sack Mitchell Pearce and look for a new halfback Will Mitchell Pearce play another Origin game? The NSW State of Origin team is seeking to employ a new halfback. The successful applicant must be reliable and have the ability to work under extreme pressure. Applicants must also possess exceptional organisational skills. Experience is preferred but not a necessity. Duties include putting a stop to eight miserable years of sporting pain. Please send full resume to Laurie Daley, c/o NSWRL, Driver Ave, Moore Park, NSW, 2021. ...And now back to last night's game. Mitchell Pearce is a wonderful competitor with a heart as big as his dad's, the former Blues and Balmain legend Wayne Pearce. No-one tries harder and he again gave it absolutely everything last night. But at Origin level he falls a fraction short in overall class. Pearce went into last night's match knowing he need to produce the game of his life to survive. And he didn't. There were just too many errors. One of his kicks was charged down midway through the second-half when the Blues were trying to get clear from their own territory on the final tackle. A few plays later and Justin Hodges was over for the Maroons. It was the match-deciding try. Five minutes earlier the Blues were on the attack, just 20 metres out, desperately needing the try to equalise. The Roosters half-back needed to drill the ball into the in-goal for a repeat set or even kick to the corner for his winger. He mis-kicked it, the Maroons regathered, and were off the hook. Pearce a great player and club level and rarely makes mistakes. He is second only to Thurston for engineering tries inside the opposition 20. But it just wasn't his night. Just two minutes into the first half he knocked on early in the tackle count. This great Queensland side is hard enough to beat without being gifted possession. Even when there were just a few minutes to go and the game was still alive, he threw a terrible pass to Josh Dugan. Pearce has had five seasons to prove himself at this level. Next year it will be someone else's turn, most probably South Sydney's book young halfback Adam Reynolds. He's got a stronger kicking game and has learnt to run the football at the Rabbitohs this year. Laurie Daley had spoken for two weeks about the importance of a positive start but the Maroons took advantage of some awful Blues defence to open the scoring in the 10th minute. Johnathan Thurston has scored few softer tries in his career, stepping and weaving his way around James Tamou and Robbie Farah. At least the Blues weren't blown away like they were in Brisbane. A couple of minutes later Thurston took it to 8-nil when James Maloney was penalised for a late tackle on Cooper Cronk. But from that point the Blues had the better of the first half. They clawed back with a try to James McManus in the 26th minute. It was beautifully set-up by Josh Morris who sucked in three defenders to give the Newcastle winger the space. Enjoying a huge territory and possession advantage, the Blues could have scored on another two occasions. They had 57 per cent of the ball. Poor options and poor handing let them down. Andrew Fifita didn't come on until the 20th minute but had racked up nearly 80 metres by half-time. But brute strength and size alone wasn't going to crack open the Queensland line. Pearce tried hard and ran himself a couple of times but couldn't find holes. The Blues needed to score first in the second-half. Fifita gave them every hope with a strong surge and a magnificent pass to put Josh Dugan into the clear but the ball came loose. Chances like that one have to be taken when you're playing against a team as great as Queensland. Not long afterwards Anthony Watmough lost the ball early in the tackle count. In the end it was the same old story. HIGHLIGHT: Another full houst at ANZ and the first time two Origin games have been sold out in one season at the venue. A record of almost 220,000 fans watched three games this season. LOWLIGHT: Geoff Carr's last State of Origin. A champion bloke who has looked after the fans, players, coaches, sponsors and media in every game every year. GET WELL MUZ: The biggest battle in rugby league was being fought a long way from ANZ Stadium last night. Former Blues coach Graham Murray suffered his second heart attack this week and is in a critical condition in a Brisbane hospital. Our thoughts are with his family and many friends. PICKY BUNCH: Roosters backrower Boyd Cordner was the 253rd player to wear the Blues' State of Origin jersey last night. the Maroons have been far more "loyal" using only 177 - that's 76 less players than the Blues. FAIR REF-FORT: Shayne Hayne last night became the second most capped referee in Origin history with his 11th appearance. He's still 10 games short of Bill Harrigan's unlikely-to-be-broken record of 21 starts with the whistle.