I’m going to love you and leave you. It’s been a pleasure as always. We’ll be back on Sunday evening with the men’s State of Origin game two. See you then.
Tazmin Gray is player of the match, and well deserved too for a reliable performance.
Sky Blues captain Kezie Apps singles out her players for their resilience, given Qld’s border closure to NSW meant many of their families and friends were unable to make it.
Maroons skipper Ali Brigginshaw describes the match as “a mission”. “What an effort. The whole nine weeks we’ve been together has been a massive effort. Hold your heads up. It was gritty, it was ugly, but we got the win.” Brigginshaw also thanks the all-female referee team.
Questions will be asked about the feasibility of that penalty, which looked perhaps a touch soft. Truth be told, though, the Sky Blues should have put the game to bed well before that.
Fulltime! Queensland 8-6 NSW
That’s all she wrote. A low score did not accurately reflect what an absorbing contest this was. Queensland retain the shield.
34 mins NSW make a fifth straight error. Not ideal at this point. The Maroons take the feed and are on 30m. Gray takes them to 20m. Play four moves the ball back out to that vulnerable left-hand side. Brigginshaw grubbers the next for a line dropout. Qld are back inside the NSW 10m line, wasps circling. Surely a field goal is in the works here. Not yet, it seems. Penalty! Hanisi is penalised for a leg pull on Lennarduzzi. Lauren Brown will take this. She has never missed an Origin kick, and she doesn’t here. With 19 seconds Qld have won this.
Try disallowed! Queensland 6-6 NSW
30 mins Ciesiolka is copping it from Sergis, who has taken issue with something. They’re off the sideline and the under-19s team basically the audience to the push and shove.
Play finally resumes. NSW spot an opening, and Brigginshaw anticipates the left-edge gap by passing to Aiken, who feeds to Upton. She races around and then straight through space. Too easy. Or is it? The referee has sent it upstairs for obstruction and it’s overruled. That would have been the game.
28 mins Fatigue is setting in now with some players betraying signs of cramp. No surprise there given the intensity of play. With the scores locked, the stakes rise with every passing minute.
25 mins A NSW error gives Qld the scrum feed but they are not making much progress. The possession has evened out to reflect this tightly contested second half.
19 mins Bit of a melee here after a tackle which probably indicates the high stakes as we move into the final 20 minutes. Lenarduzzi is on report and NSW line up for a penalty that can level the ledger. This should be so, so simple for Studdon, and it is. NSW assistant coach Geoff Toovey is cutting an impassioned figure in the coaching box. Go for it, Tooves.
15 mins Robinson tries to make headway but she’s caught her boot on the grass and the split-second it takes for her to recompose herself is a split-second too long. The Sky Blues, back with possession, put up a high ball and allow Upton to take with little fuss. Queensland fail to capitalise with a needless error and Taufa pounces and feeds the ball to Dodd, who finds Boyle. She’s under the post ... almost.
12 mins Southwell is lurking on the sideline with the interchange card. Will we see her again soon?
8 mins Breakdown in communication between Studdon and Kelly forces to some quick pick-up work and the Sky Blues hold onto possession. The first minutes of this term have been end to end. The Maroons make up territory thanks to a quick play-the-ball. Now NSW, I can’t keep up. Kelly is through! Some tricky attacking play has her on the run and she pierces the Maroons defence and forces some serious tracking back. Karina Brown is now leaving the field after a head knock.
5 mins The bulk of points in last few Origins have come in the second half. Will 2021 follow the pattern? It’s Togatuki’s turn for a head injury assessment after a head-to-back moment that didn’t look great.
Second half!
3 mins Maroons possession is 61% to 39% but only have nine tackle busts to NSW’s 23. The visitors kick and Qld have the ball. They’re looking for a fast start too, playing direct down the edge.
Halftime! Queensland 6-4 NSW
Well the Maroons warmed into that nicely.
34 mins This has become an evenly match half despite the Sky Blues’ early ascendancy. There’s not much in it at all. Qld have a rare penalty after Temara leads with a shoulder on Kelly and NSW have one last chance. Nine metres away with two tackles left. The ball is knocked on, then Qld drop it, and Togatuki runs over for a try. It won’t be a try though, and Qld have the feed with 30 seconds on the clock.
31 mins The show will gop on, and Qld are charging forward again, forcing NSW to defend hard and in blocks. But they have an opening and Brigginshaw is quick to react with a grubber. NSW take care of it. Boyle is on the move - she is running well. My oh my, what do we have here? Two kicks, there’s offloads, drops, retreats and surges forward, and the final kick appears to have Sergis in plenty of space rushing towards the right corner but she DROPS IT. Pre-halftime ayhem.
28 mins Harden has sustained a pretty full on head knock while attempting to run through Togatuki. As they go down she appears to hit her head on the ground, whiplash perhaps. And she’s taking her time to get back up. Surely she’ll be straight off for a HIA, and she is.
Try! Queensland 6-4 NSW
26 mins The Maroons have a decent chance here after some NSW disruption, and they are close. Five metres with three tackles remaining. There we go. It is Brill, the 18-year-old debutant. She dummies and burrows under Apps and over the line. Lauren Brown is kicking from an unforgiving angle but she makes it work nonetheless. This scoreline does not reflect the half in full but that was excellent play for the hosts.
23 mins Studdon drops the ball again! That deserved an explanation mark. This is uncharacteristic of the playmaker given her form this year. The pass wasn’t textbook, but she would ordinarily catch it with no issue.
21 mins Taufa is pulled up and put on report for a crusher tackle on Brigginshaw as news comes through that Southwell is moving freely on the sideline. We could see her back.
18 mins Temara makes big ground with a kick that provides Qld with a little cushion as they attempt to deal with the onslaught. They do so well, and regain possession out their 20, which is progress on the past few times.
16 mins Brigginshaw gets a bomb away and Vette-Welsh cleans it up with no hesitation. They’re blazing forward, running with intent, but Qld are matching that intent in their tackling. Kelly is playing very well, with no hesitation and offloading well under pressure. Hanisi is suddenly on the line and could have scored here if not for the three bodies in front of her. Tackle three but Studdon drops the ball.
14 mins Worrying injury for Southwell, who looks to have rolled her ankle quite badly under no contact. Play has stopped as she receives medical attention and is taken from the field.
That’s a loss for NSW. Wheeler is on to replace her.
Southwell, for those unaware, is also a very good footballer, having played in the W-League and Australia’s junior national teams. She was even called up to a Matildas training camp before switching to rugby sevens and then back to her childhood code rugby league in 2018.
13 mins It’s teeming with rain and the pitch is muddy, skiddy no doubt. There is a decent crowd out tonight watching as NSW approach, get a kick away and chase down Ciesiolka. Penitani has her in her grasp on the turf and the ball appears to slip between her legs. Does she ground it? It goes upstairs. Knock-on.
10 mins Queensland are looking to reply straight away and they have the ball well up in NSW territory inside a set. Until Lennarduzzi has spilled the ball! That’s a lucky break for NSW. Or is it? The ruling is a NSW knock-on on as it’s scooped up but a captain’s challenge is under way. The ref has ruled it was not indeed a knock-on, but it was a strip on Lennarduzzi, so the Sky Blues retain their challenge but concede a penalty.
Try! Queensland 0-4 NSW
6 mins Queensland are already on the back foot here, pinned back on their line more than once now. Their goal-line defence has thus far been flawless. Wait, a frailty here as the ball is fed wide and Isabelle Kelly has the ball in her hands on the left flank. A bundle of bodies are waiting for her but she’s having none of it, barging her way over, sticking out her arm and grounding.
Updated
4 mins NSW are inside the 10 now and their set ends in the hands of Brill, with no kick. A short spell of Maroons possession and it’s no sooner back with the visitors than Tazmin Gray is on report.
And we're under way!
3 mins Studdon has taken the first touch and NSW are shifting the ball left to right. The first penalty of the night is already conceded (no set restarts here) and the Sky Blues are back with the ball.
Couple of minutes away now and it’s pretty wet and windy at Sunshine Coast Stadium, which will bring out the forwards.
I was going to type out the rules for you but here are there, neat and perfectly packaged:
The rules are set! 📃#Origin pic.twitter.com/xLsy0HloxX
— Women's Rugby League (@WRugbyLeague) June 25, 2021
Here are the teams:
#Origin teams are officially 🔒'd in!
— Women's Rugby League (@WRugbyLeague) June 25, 2021
📺 Tune in at 745pm on @NRLonNine, @FOXNRL + @kayosports pic.twitter.com/DE0JYoUNJI
Speaking of Studdon, the stats gods tell me NSW have never lost a match when she has played.
For NSW, keep an eye out for Maddie Studdon, who is back at representative level at halfback and brings a strong kicking game. She joins Sharks teammate Corban Baxter in the halves.
Sky Blues coach Kylie Hilder, who was playing for this side only about seven months ago, is about to call the shots for the first time.
“I’m finding it lots of fun ... it’s been a bit of a learning curve for me coming from the player to the coach but it’s been exciting. The girls have been really good and helped me along the way.”
Maroons captain Ali Brigginshaw will play at lock, and is feeling confident.
“Having 14 girls returning from last year you felt that winning experience and you don’t ever want that to never be there,”she says. “Coming into camp we knew the players ... and that was a great advantage.
Norris has named five Maroons debutants including Destiny Brill, described by Brigginshaw as “the hooker of the future”. SHe’ll be joined by fellow teenager Tiana Raftstrand-Smith.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Women’s State of Origin. Whenever we talk about Origin we talk about pressure. Tonight NSW will be feeling it, having ceded the shield to Queensland, who last year won by a try in their first interstate victory since 2014.
The lowdown is this: the Maroons are welcoming back 14 of their 19-player squad from the 2020 instalment. The Sky Blues are definitely in this but will have to be on their game at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
There are also a couple of significant firsts, with female coaches overseeing both teams in Tahnee Norris (Queensland) and Kylie Hilder (NSW), and an all-female line-up of officials including referee Belinda Sharpe and touch judges Kailey Beattie and Karra-Lee Nolan.
Here we go.
