Their focus, not nine: Sky Blues eyeing performance over points in decider

Nine might be the magical number required for New South Wales ahead of the Women’s State of Origin decider but it couldn’t be further from the mind of Simaima Taufa.

After going down by eight points to Queensland in Game One, Kylie Hilder’s Sky Blues will have a shot at redemption on Thursday with the new two-game series, needing to win by a margin of nine points or more to retain the Origin shield.

Joining the Sky Blues in camp last Thursday after missing Game One due to a shoulder injury, Taufa said "nine points" are the only two words that won’t be discussed ahead of the Townsville decider.

“We’re not oblivious to it, the girls know how this new competition works but we're not talking about it,” Taufa told pan66.com.

“At the end of the day we just need to win. The points will come off the back of us trusting our system and working together to achieve that goal.

“We don’t want to go in there chasing points. The points will come when you stick to the system and trust the process the coaching staff have put in place.

The points will come, we’ve just got to be patient.

Sky Blues forward Simaima Taufa

Taufa’s return to lock will bring much-needed experience in the middle with the Sky Blues veteran running for 144 metres and laying 32 tackles in last year's fixture.

Having watched her Sky Blue teammates fall to the Maroons in Game One, the Jillaroos forward said she is ready to make up for lost time in the jersey and help NSW retain the shield they spent three years trying to get back last season.

“It was a hard game to watch, I’m such a control freak," she said.

“I was watching with the Raiders girls in Canberra and it was so hard because I couldn’t physically contribute and that’s different for me because I feel so protective of the girls out on that field.

“I just want to push the Queenslanders away and say don’t touch her.

“But it feels like I never left now. There’s a fire in our belly and when the girls walked into camp, I saw their desire to win and their discontent in their own personal performances.

“The girls would have watched the videos a million times, they know what they need to do.

“We all want to leave every inch of ourselves out on that field to make sure we not only do ourselves and our teammates proud but make our family and state proud too.”

Meanwhile, coach Hilder is confident the message is clear throughout the Sky Blues camp in Townsville – winning the contest before worrying about the scoreboard.

“We’ve got to win the game to start with, let alone chasing points,” Hilder enthused.

“As you saw in the last 20 minutes when we tried to chase points, we weren’t great. So we don’t need to worry about the points and the girls won’t be worrying about the points. That’s the mindset. We’ve actually got to go up there and win.

"If we perform and have that mindset, the points will come.”