You just can knock the TV pulling power of State of Origin with last night’s bellringer pulling in 2.38 million viewers according to OzTam figures.

Clearly a number of NSW viewers tuned in expecting a Blues series win (NSW lost 18-16 in the final minutes) with viewer numbers up from game one which pulled 2.35 million.

The series now goes to a game three decider in Brisbane on July the 12th which is sure to have Nine bosses grinning from ear-to-ear as they plot even more ways to turn an 80-minute footy game into a five-hour advertising bonanza!

Unsurprisingly, last night’s Origin saw Nine easily win the night with a whopping 45 per cent audience share. Seven was a distant second with 21.3 per cent, Ten grabbed 15 per cent, the ABC 13.3 per cent and SBS 5.4 per cent.

However, not everyone had tuned into the footy last night. MasterChef still managed a respectable 761,000 considering what it was up against and the return of Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell pulled a tidy 574,000 for the ABC, while Anh’s Brush With Fame managed 546,000.

Its news coverage aside (1.1 million) viewers, all of Seven’s shows dipped overnight as viewers tuned in for the footy smash-a-thon at rival Nine.