With the series on the line in front of a stadium packed with New South Wales fans this Thursday, the Maroons will be relying on a teenaged debutante to help fix up their porous defence.
In the wake of a 22-12 defeat to the Sky Blues in Game One – in which her side missed 37 tackles and gave up six line breaks – Queensland coach Tahnee Norris has dropped veteran playmaker Zahara Temara in favour of Titans rookie Sienna Lofipo for Game Two in Newcastle.
The experienced coach, who is in her fourth series leading Queensland, said she hopes having a bigger body in Lofipo defending in the middle of the park will help address some of her side's issues on the defensive side of the ball.
The move also allows captain Ali Brigginshaw to move back into the more familiar role of halfback, after wearing the No.13 jersey for her state in recent times.
“We looked at it defensively, we missed far too many tackles [in Game One], and I think we need to bolster the middle of the field,” Norris said.
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“Moving Sienna Lofipo in to make her debut, which I’m really excited about, and then pushing Ali back out to her preferred position was where we went with it.
“I am really excited about seeing Sienna debut for Queensland.
She’s a big body through the middle of the field who loves defence, which is what I am really looking forward to.
Tahnee Norris
“She can play in a number of different roles for us, she’s not only a lock forward, she can jump in at nine, jump in at seven.”
Norris was also quick to dismiss any concerns that the 19-year-old would be overawed by playing in a must-win game at what is tracking to be a sold-out McDonald Jones Stadium.
“She played in a grand final last year for the Titans, so she’s ready for it,” Norris said.
“She was outstanding in the camp for Game One… she’s a leader on the field for such a young player as well.”
Sienna Lofipo Try
While the Maroons will run with a re-jigged line-up in Game Two – with Emmanita Paki joining the bench and Lauren Brown the new centre following an injury to Emily Bass, which has pushed Evania Pelite to the wing – Norris said outside of a costly opening 10 minutes, her side weren’t far off NSW in the series opener.
New South Wales scored twice in the first 10 minutes to establish an early lead, but Queensland won the second half 12-8 and ended up having more possession across the 70 minutes.
“There was about 10 minutes of that game that were quite disappointing and we really wanted to make up for that, and it showed in the momentum in that second half,” Norris said.
“We came really close in that second half to getting in the game and getting on top of them.
“The girls are pumped and ready to make amends for the first game.”