NSW Debutants Steal the Show in WSOO Game I
But the bigger question is why do we persist in playing this fixture at a time that does not set the players up for success?
Congratulations to all the incredible women who played in the women’s State of Origin last night. It was a fantastic game with the NSW Blues emphatic winners, 32 points to 12 in front of a record crowd of 26,022 at Suncorp Stadium.
Every player that I have ever spoken to says that the State of Origin fixtures are the toughest games they play. So take a moment to appreciate how incredible it is that we are asking these women to play one of the toughest games of the year without any footy behind them.
The Blues and Maroons went into this game with only the benefit of a six-week training camp. With the changing in timing of the QLD State competition, now both the NSW and QLD state based competitions align with the NRLW (to act as a reserve grade competition for the NRLW). So most women go in completely cold. To make a comparison, it would be like asking the men to play State of Origin before pre-season. It’s absurd and it is a testament to the dedication of these women that the games we see continue to be of such impressive quality whilst they manage lack of footy and for most of them, a job/family/studies in the background.
A couple of observations from last night’s game:
Last week for the Roar, I wrote about some of the NSW debutants and how John Strange had added some mongrel to the squad. For the Blues, each of their debutants was outstanding. Despite an error which contributed to Queensland’s first try, Abbi Church was busy all night. She took tough carries coming out of the Blues danger zone, had a try assist and also scored a try of her own. Jayme Fressard scored a double on debut and Ellie Johnston demanded the ball and scored an important try which almost put the game out of reach for Queensland.
There were a couple of moments where Queensland seemed to lack urgency. They lacked urgency in responding to errors, contesting the ball and most importantly in making their tackles on the line. The Maroons kept getting caught short on their edges. It’s because players were racing out of the defensive line but not completing tackles.
The Maroons missed Shannon Mato terrible (Shannon is taking time off this year to grow her family). The combination between Mato and Jessika Elliston has been the engine room for Queensland in recent years. They missed that punch through the middle last night.
The experienced players in the Blues absolutely shone; particularly Isabelle Kelly, Yasmin Clydesdale, Simaima Taufa and Kezie Apps. Kelly was my best on ground for her relentless effort all evening and I’m delighted she was named captain and is considered the next likely captain of the Australian Jillaroos.
The Blues bench completely outmuscled the Maroons, who in my view got very little benefit from their bench players. Kennedy Cherrington was a burst of energy from the moment she came onto the field and one of her barnstorming runs was the starting point for one of the Fressard tries.
Hannah Southwell controlled the game beautifully and despite being the only player on the Blues team with a dominant kicking game, that was all the team needed.
The big question is what changes to team’s make before the next game. If you are the Blues, you don’t change a winning formula. But for Queensland, coach Tahnee Norris has nothing to go off other than the form of the players in Game I. There is no bolter who has been playing well in club footy and very little to draw from other than the current squad.
This is another serious flaw to playing the game in its current timeslot.
Whilst in time it will probably resolve itself as the NRLW gets bigger, with a longer season, it’s not optimal right now. At a time when women’s footy is being encouraged to grow and players pushed to market the game, we need to give them every chance to succeed. Current State of Origin timing does not do this; in fact it does the complete opposite.