Queensland have pulled off an Origin first, tying the series 1-1 but taking the Shield on points aggregate, losing 18-14 in Townsville but winning 32-28 across the two games.
There was late drama as Yasmin Clydesdale was awarded a penalty try after Shenae Ciesolka kicked the ball from her grasp, nudging the Blues in front on the night.
With one play to win it, it seemed like NSW had blown it, but a hip-drop tackle was called on Romy Teitzel, allowing a further play. Appropriately, it was the Maroons’ best, Tamika Upton, who ended the Hail Mary play to win it for her state.
The Blues needed to win and win well, overcoming an eight point deficit from Game 1. For 15 minutes, that looked more than a little likely.
“We’re really confused on how to feel,” said Blues coach Kylie Hilder.
“We just won a game of Origin in Queensland, which is a massive feat, and it was such a battle and such a great game, but you feel so defeated because we’ve lost a two-game series by four points.
“We fought really hard to win this game to make it one all, and we knew that it was going to be on points, but it’s disappointing that you lose an Origin Shield because of four points.
“It was tough for our girls out there, there was a massive crowd, it was awesome, we were behind and they fought hard to win the game. Then we walk away and that’s it, it’s all over for 2023.”
The Maroons were happier to take the win, but admitted that it felt weird losing and also winning.
“It feels a bit mixed,” said Tahnee Norris. “The girls are celebrating, but it’s a weird feeling. They fought so hard to lose at the death.
“To go to three games – we’re putting our hands up and going ‘please, please, please’, we deserve it. It would have been fantastic to now go into a third game.
“But we’ll enjoy the win: the girls scrapped and scrapped in both games and showed what Queenslanders are all about.”
NSW piled on the pressure to chase the points, scoring on their first attack and laying siege to the Queensland line.
Halfway through the first half, they had twice as many run metres as their opponents, who had barely crossed halfway.
It was a notably different style from Game 1 too, with a lot more willingness to shift the ball to strike centres Isabelle Kelly and Jess Sergis, and plenty of success derived from that adventure. Twice, Upton had to pull off a trysaver to stop long range efforts.
Then the handbrake came on. Though NSW had opened the scoring through Tiana Penitani, they turned down the chance to apply the blowtorch – kicking a penalty goal instead – and ceded control to the Maroons.
It was a fatal error. Queensland’s lethal right edge fired up, first through Upton, then Emily Bass – off a miracle Evania Pelite offload – and finally Tarryn Aitken.
But amazingly, the same pattern repeated. NSW flew out of the blocks in the second half, scored again through Penitani, and the game was back on. Then, with the Maroons on the ropes, they again took a penalty goal when they might have attacked further.
A further ten scoreless minutes followed, mostly camped on the Queensland line, by which point the chance to accumulate enough points to steal the series was gone. The late try did get the result, but it wasn’t enough.
The NSW backline is fearsome, and at times, it seemed like the best attacking policy for the halves was to simply get out of their way.
Halves Jesse Southwell and Taliah Fuimiano are among the youngest, least-experienced players in the team, in the most position where you might most want experience, and when the Blues were most effective, it was because they spun the ball wide, early, and into the arms of Kelly and Sergis.
The chief playmaker was Emma Tonegato from the back, who threatened every time she got the ball. The issue was in good ball, where Queensland could fly out and stick to tackles. The nous was missing.
In the end, that was the difference. The Maroons had fewer opportunities, but in Aitken and Zahara Temara, they had a classic running threat at five eighth and a superb kick and control merchant at halfback.
In a game as tight as this, with such high stakes, that was the difference between the Blues winning by enough and not.
As unimpressive as the Blues’ attack was, a significant portion of that was caused by the Maroons’ defence.
Tazmin Gray was at the forefront with some tough hits, but the secret was in the organisation in goalline, which forced the Blues to spread wide to stand a chance, inducing the mistakes in the process. Even when they did score, the kicks were missed because Queensland made them go around.
Given the huge disparity in metres, it was clear that this was a defensive system designed to bend, but not break. The Maroons were willing to let the backline advance on them – given the talent in Sky Blue jumpers, that was inevitable – and then win the fight on their own line.
The middle came up and made NSW spread wide, and while they rode their luck at times with last ditch tackles, the tactic worked.
The aggregate scoring system might have played into it. While no Queenslander will admit that they didn’t play to win, knowing that they could afford to lose by eight points will have focused the mind on defence, before attack.
That’s how it played out, even if unintentionally. The Maroons defence won them the series.
While it created a superb finish tonight, the points aggregate system laid bare how much this fixture needs a third game.
The first match was marred by poor handling, a direct consequence of the game being played outside of the regular season and at a time of year where none of the participants had played for several weeks, and even among those that had, they had been playing State Cup rather than NRLW.
This game was of vastly higher quality throughout, producing a far better spectacle and a better product. The scheduling aspect can’t be ignored.
That is only heightened by the lack of a third game. If the standard was able to rise so much between Games 1 and 2 as a result of more training and more competitive game time, imagine how good this would be if there was a decider to come.
Moving the Women’s Origin series around is a tough call for the NRL to make, with a strong argument that playing it in the middle of Origin season – along with the men’s and juniors – is best for the series, while playing it in the middle of the NRLW season is better for the game itself. That’s a big decision with lots of stakeholders to consult.
But playing a third game isn’t a tough call at all. Everyone who saw this game would watch a third, plus a whole new audience who would tune in for a decider. The demand is there, the players want it, the fans want it. Go make it happen, NRL.
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