New South Wales may be favourites for this Thursday’s Origin clash, but Queensland coach Tahnee Norris has confidence her side can bounce back and create history in the inaugural three-game series.
While the initial goal of whitewashing the Blues now is void, Norris said the team’s focus hasn’t changed since the beginning of the campaign, but had instead realigned with the new situation.
“We talked about winning all three … now we just have to win the next two. There’s no doubt about it,” Norris said.
“To finally get the three-game series, it’s something (Queensland captain Ali Brigginshaw) has talked about and I’m super proud of (and) now we get to play it out. There’s no points aggregate.
“We have a chance to win the next two games and the series.”
If they are to spring an upset in front of a sold-out and pro-Blues crowd at McDonald Jones Stadium, the side will need to address some key lapses which cost them in the series opener.
Already, Norris has looked to address their defence, bringing in Sienna Lofipo at lock to make her Origin debut, while moving Brigginshaw back into the halves.
“We missed far too many tackles and I think we need to bolster the middle of the field,” Norris said.
Norris said Lofipo would not be overawed by the occasion, with the Titans youngster also sharing a special connection with Queensland’s starting props.
The 19-year-old will join the baptism of fire alongside powerhouse pairing of Shannon Mato and Jess Elliston, who were a formidable one-two punch for the Gold Coast club in Lofipo’s debut NRLW season last year.
The duo backed it up in Game I, amassing 288 running metres between them, but the debutant isn’t the only one to be inspired by the pairing.
Elliston herself feels the familiar NRLW connection will bring the best out of her as she prepares for the must-win clash in Newcastle.
“It’s amazing to be alongside Nunu (Mato), you look over and you know she’s there and it’s a really cool thing to see,” Elliston told pan66.com.
“Especially coming off our Titans campaign and knowing we’re going back to the Titans and having that club connection, it’s amazing.
“It was really cool and really special to be able to represent Queensland with the Titans girls and it’s all sort of starting to feel real now that NRLW isn’t too far away.”
The connection inside Camp Maroon isn’t the only familiar face for the 26-year-old in the Origin arena, who got a firsthand glimpse of Olivia Kernick’s rise to success in her first game as lock.
The friends-now-turned-foes were teammates at the Tweed Seagulls during the recent BMD Premiership, which saw the Blues No. 13 transition to the middle third from the edge.
“I like to think she’s killing it from her time playing at Tweed in a Queensland competition,” Elliston joked.
“Nah, obviously I think it’s just her pure talent. Kernick was awesome in Game I.
“She’s an absolute athlete and she was really good to play with at Tweed. There were a few games we got to play together. It’s really cool seeing her kill it.”
However, the friendly feelings will be put aside come Thursday night in Newcastle with the Maroons entering enemy territory in a bid to level the series and force a decider.
Set to be up against it in the Hunter, Elliston wanted to use the hostile crowd to their advantage, as well as the feeling of disappointment in having lost Game I on home soil.
“We definitely know anything can happen and it just lights the fire in our belly,” Elliston said.
“The way we’re feeling now, we don’t want to feel like that again.
“We want to use the crowd to our advantage and have those boos fuel us.”
Match: Sky Blues v Maroons
Game 2 -
home Team
Sky Blues
away Team
Maroons
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
