About 2,000 tickets were given to local frontline healthcare workers and emergency services personnel in recognition of their work during the coronavirus pandemic.
Wayne Bennett’s Queensland suffocated the visitors defensively, and hurt them with quick ball movement and a dizzying array of angles in attack.
Cameron Munster, forced off with a head knock in game two, was outstanding in guiding his side around the field and played a role in Holmes’ early try in the corner before showing great vision with a chip-and-chase to tee up Lee for his score.
New South Wales’ tries were the result of opportunism from Tedesco after Allan spilled close to the line, and a sharp move after back-to-back penalties for Tupou’s finish.
Tedesco collided with the knee of Josh Papali’i and went off, but the switch of Issah Yeo to centre and Clint Gutherson to full-back had mixed results.
There was little evidence of the slick attack from game two until the last 20 minutes, largely because of the Queensland line-speed and energy.
Blues stand-off Cody Walker’s injury late on was an extra sour note for New South Wales, who won the series in both 2018 and 2019.