3 years after McManus' début in representative football, he returned to the representative arena, being selected for Country Origin again in 2012. On 7 July, McManus was named for the 2013 State of Origin decider following a string of strong performances at club level. For the third and deciding game of the 2013 State of Origin series McManus was selected as for New South Wales, and scored a try in the Blues' loss. McManus finished the 2013 NRL season as the league's equal leading try scorer with 19 for the regular season. He shared the award with David Simmons of Penrith and David Williams from Manly. McManus was selected on the wing for New South Wales for Game 3 of the 2014 State of Origin series.