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NSW have avoided the humiliation of a State of Origin whitewash, securing a 24-10 win over Queensland in the final game of the series.

Down 2-0 heading into Wednesday's home clash at Sydney's Accor Stadium, Brad Fittler's Blues put some pride back in the jersey with a gutsy effort in front of 75,342 fans.

Cody Walker was the pick of the Blues' performers and was named man of the match in a result which ensured NSW avoided becoming the first team in 13 years to be on the wrong end of a series clean sweep.

Queensland forward Reuben Cotter was named player of the series.

A 3-0 series loss would have placed Fittler under immense pressure to remain as Blues coach, but the NSW boss was vindicated in his seven selection changes for Origin III.

Debutant centre Bradman Best scored a double and recalled props Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Jake Trbojevic led the charge up front.

But it was Walker's ingenuity and patience that secured the Blues victory as NSW scored more points than they had in the previous two games this series.

Queensland opened the scoring through David Fifita in the 12th minute but Walker's guile turned the game on its head in a 10-minute spell midway through the first half.

"Cody made a massive difference and he came up with some really nice passes," Fittler said.

"We had a plan and stuck to it and other than a try at the start we got urgent in the second half.

"It shows how hard it is to win three games.

First, NSW released Josh Addo-Carr down the left and while the lightning-quick winger was brought down after a 50-metre break, the Blues quickly shifted right for Brian To'o to touch down.

Walker sensed a vulnerability and went back to that same edge soon after by spreading the ball wide to Best, who tipped onto Addo-Carr.

The Canterbury winger was inside his own 40 metres but dashed down field, chipped over Queensland fullback AJ Brimson and regathered to score a sensational try.

Walker then sent Best over by delaying a well-weighted pass that bamboozled the Queensland defence for a try on his Origin debut.

Stephen Crichton added two penalties for the Blues but missed two of his three first-half conversions to keep the Maroons in the contest.

Queensland were sloppy and struggled for territory but a try courtesy of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow before the half-time break brought them to within eight points at the interval.

The Maroons were uncharacteristically ill-disciplined and rarely threatened the NSW line as they chased points in the second half.

Murray Taulagi worked his way past James Tedesco but after he was brought down, the Blues were able to scramble and the Maroons weren't calm enough under pressure.

As the half wore on Queensland looked bereft of ideas and resorted to kicking high bombs.

The NSW back three handled that with ease and then went up the other end to put the game beyond doubt as Best profited from a vintage Tedesco break.

"My coach at the Melbourne Storm (Craig Bellamy) used to say, 'you get what you deserve', and I felt NSW deserved to win tonight," said Queensland coach Billy Slater.

"I feel the (Queensland) team deserves the series.

"We just weren't willing to earn what we earned in the first two games and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves."

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A former Qantas pilot pretended to be a lawyer because he wanted to change the direction of his life, a court has heard.

Nathaniel Whitehall, 55, was fined $4500 and handed a one-year community corrections order at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.

"Unqualified people practising as solicitors place their clients in very difficult positions," prosecutor David Viney said.

"If any of these matters caused harm or damages to clients then they would be in the position of not having insurance coverage."

After flying Qantas planes for more than 20 years, Whitehall took early retirement in 2020, seeking to "move in a new direction".

He then began working for a Newcastle conveyancing company, and prepared and witnessed the signing of multiple family wills while pretending to be a lawyer.

He also legally represented a woman for a traffic infringement in Belmont Local Court in late 2020, and signed a water access licence.

Whitehall represented himself throughout his proceedings and told the court he did not gain or benefit anything from his legal sham.

"I was, in some cases, just simply helping out a friend or a colleague," he said on Wednesday.

Magistrate Juliana Crofts said the offences were below the mid-range but she was concerned about his lack of remorse.

"The way the matter was run before the court does seem to indicate a lack of understanding as to the seriousness of the offending," she said during sentencing.

Whitehall had originally pleaded not guilty in September 2021 to all eight charges he faced, including appearing in court as a lawyer and witnessing and signing a will as a lawyer.

Then in May this year he entered guilty pleas to all charges.

Whitehall has 28 days to pay his fine and will be released next July from his community order, requiring him to be of good behaviour.

Law Society of NSW president Cassandra Banks said Whitehall's sentence should serve as a deterrent to others tempted to falsely present as a lawyer.

"People in need of legal advice and advocacy have a right to expect that the person they have retained to provide these services is qualified to do so," Ms Banks said in a statement.

Lawyers need to abide ethical obligations, put their clients' interests above their own and maintain high standards of integrity, honesty and fairness, she said.

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One man has died and another is fighting for life after a driver swerved around a boom gate and into the path of a coal train in north Queensland.

Police issued a warning to drivers about level crossing safety after the Toyota LandCruiser and train collided in Bowen about 9pm on Tuesday.

The vehicle's passenger, a 50-year-old from Townsville, died at the scene while the 40-year-old driver was flown to Mackay Base Hospital with critical head injuries.

The train's two drivers were not injured.

"The driver's decision to enter into a rail crossing that was governed by a boom gate and warning lights - which is obviously an offence in itself - have contributed towards the circumstances," Inspector Jeremy Novosel told reporters on Wednesday.

"Those warning lights and boom gates are there for a reason.

"People should adhere to those the warning signals that we have because they are there to prevent any loss of life and circumstances such as this."

Insp Novosel said it appeared the driver had swerved around the boom gate seconds before the crash.

Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with CCTV or dashcam vision to come forward.

It was the second fatal incident on Queensland roads overnight after a 77-year-old man died in a single-vehicle accident at Freestone on the Southern Downs.

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Scientists trying to locate the samurai wasp have confirmed it's somewhere in Australia but they still don't know exactly where the powerful biocontrol agent is.

The tiny insect is only the size of a sesame seed but is considered one of the best predators against the highly destructive brown marmorated stink bug.

After three years of detective work, national science agency CSIRO has confirmed the wasp is in Australia by having specimens collected last century correctly identified.

"It's definitely out there, we just haven't been out there at the right time or exactly the right spot," CSIRO's Valerie Caron said.

The hunt led them all the way to Canada, where a wasp found in Australia in the 1990s was sitting in a museum's insect collection.

The specimen was analysed by one of the world's leading taxonomists who confirmed the samurai wasp was first recorded in Australia in 1914 but given a different name.

"They're tiny, they're very hard to identify," Dr Caron said.

"At least it is here, that's the good news, we just don't know exactly where."

The samurai wasp was initially found in Japan.

While it can't sting humans it's a fierce predator of invasive insects, and kills the eggs of its hosts and lays its own.

The wasp's preferred host is the highly invasive brown marmorated stink bug, which has devastated crops in other countries.

The stink bug feeds on more than 300 plant species including key agricultural crops.

Despite a number of incursions the pest hasn't taken hold in Australia, but if it does scientists want to be ready to deploy the wasp as a weapon.

"We do need to know where it is so we can collect it, ideally we would mass rear it and be ready to release when the brown marmorated stink bug comes," Dr Caron said.

New Zealand has already approved the samurai wasp's mass release should the stink bug take hold there.

The CSIRO scientists are now planning more sampling across a wider range to increase their chances of catching the samurai wasp in Australia.

© AAP 2023