‘Penthouse party in Vegas’: Maroons’ wild Origin celebrations revealed

Queensland partied long into the night after their State of Origin victory, even kicking on at the Caxton in the wee hours of the morning.

Queensland fans — don’t be surprised if your favourite players are playing this weekend.

The State of Origin victors’ celebrations have continued long into the night after the 22-12 win at Suncorp Stadium returned the shield north of the border.

Stream the FOX LEAGUE State of Origin Game 3 REPLAY on Kayo with no ads during-play. Both full and condensed replays available to stream from 11PM AEST. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Coming into the game without superstar Cameron Munster and written off by punters, Queensland claimed one of the great Origin results in a thrilling decider.

And the party has continued late into the night for the men in Maroon as the celebrations got pretty loose.

As you could imagine, the situation was quite different in the Blues’ rooms.

The Daily Telegraph’s Dave Riccio told Triple M there was a massive difference between the groups as NSW were completely gutted.

“It was unbelievable the difference in emotions for both camps,” Riccio said on Triple M Breakfast with MG, Jess and Pagey.

“I walked into the Blues dressing room and honestly it was like a morgue.

“Shattered faces. Nathan Cleary apologising. Matt Burton spoke to the media with his swollen cheekbone.

“Jacob Saifiti, the Blues prop who was outstanding on debut, said it was all for nothing. He said, ‘I don’t even want to remember my debut’.

“The Blues were absolutely shattered.”

The Blues were devastated. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

On the other side, Munster’s replacement Tom Dearden, who starred, running 103m, making a line break, a try assist and being a handful for the Blues all night.

Speaking to Queensland Media after the win, the only thing that could wipe the smile off the youngster’s face was having a drink from his can of VB.

“It’s unreal, can’t believe it,” Dearden said. “I think we showed the Queensland spirit tonight and we kept turning up.

“To get the job done for all the Queensland fans out there, it’s a massive moment. And to be able to debut with one of my best mates (Cowboys teammate Tom Gilbert), makes it even more special.”

Last season, Dearden forced his way out of the Broncos after playing in just four win from 22 games over three seasons and had plenty of question marks over his future.

A year later, Dearden’s Cowboys are second on the NRL ladder and he’s now a Queensland representative player.

His celebrations were fairly indicative as to how the Maroons partied.

Wild scenes from the sheds. Photo: QRL

“You go across to the Queensland dressing room and it was like a penthouse party in Vegas,” Riccio said.

“They were going off.

“I won’t name the player, but he was up on the eski and just putting the beers away like no tomorrow and if he plays this weekend I will be very surprised.”

Riccio soon revealed the player was Dearden.

“I may have hinted at him before, but if Tom Dearden plays, the rookie Queenslander, I will be surprised,” Riccio said.

“But he certainly deserved to enjoy himself.”

Tom Dearden was one of the MVPs of the celebrations. Photo: Queensland Rugby League

Jai Arrow dressed up to front media. Picture, John Gass

The Maroons’ Jai Arrow was also looking a bit worse for wear on Thursday and was wearing a cane toad hat while talking to media.

“Yeah it was unreal. To win a decider at Suncorp, there’s no better feeling and I’m just grateful I was a part of it,” Arrow told reporters on Thursday morning.

“Clearly I’ve enjoyed myself.”

Nine Queensland reporter Adam Jackson was also in the changerooms until 2am and spoke to Hit Queensland’s Cliffo and Gabi.

Jackson said the Maroons were going off to country music with Arrow turning DJ.

He added Sweet Caroline got everyone up on the dancefloor.

Cameron Munster also gatecrashed an interview, FaceTiming Daly Cherry-Evans while interviewing players.

The team then headed down into the famous Caxton.

“When they left the ground, probably at about 2 o'clock this morning, they decided to stop off down Caxton St and a few punters saw them ducking into the Caxton Hotel,” Jackson said.

“A lot of them were still in their playing gear, Kurt Capewell, Pat Carrigan, the man of the series, walking in with his boots. The security guards let them in and they had a little corner there. That’s something those punters will never forget.”