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Queensland salvaged pride in the Women’s State of Origin series by claiming the third contest 18-14 thanks to a second-half comeback in Newcastle that prevented the Blues from securing a first clean sweep in the three-match series.
Powerful Maroons prop Chelsea Lenarduzzi crashed over from an Ali Brigginshaw pass with four minutes to go, taking three Blues defenders with her, to put Queensland into the lead and spoil the Blues’ party. “Ali actually gave me a bit of a look, and I knew what she meant,” Lenarduzzi said. “It’s one of my favourite plays, and worked at the right time.”
The pair combined for the deciding try, but their impact was also central from the start of Thursday’s improved Queensland performance. Maroons coach Tahnee Norris sent shock waves through the sport before kick-off when she named Brigginshaw – captain and Jillaroos great – on the bench and promoted Lenarduzzi to the starting lineup. The burly prop played the first ten minutes and helped set the tone after the Maroons suffered 32-12 and 26-6 defeats earlier in the series.
Aided by the physicality of Lenarduzzi – who was not selected for the first game and played off the bench in the second – Queensland offered early punch, and were rewarded with a seventh minute try to Makenzie Weale.
“An Origin is still an Origin,” Lenarduzzi said afterwards. “You represent yourself, your state, and this group is really cool, we’ve had a really good time in camp, and we’ve obviously been really disappointed the last couple of games, so we needed a show we were capable of.”
Although NSW had already secured the shield, another strong crowd of 21,912 turned out in Newcastle, consolidating the city’s status as the home of women’s rugby league. They came despite a forecast of rain that turned into a downpour at the final whistle. And they were treated to a mix of the brilliant and the bizarre in a tight contest.
The game’s strangest moment came midway through the first half, when Blues captain Isabelle Kelly crossed untouched for what seemed to be a try to put her side on the board. Kelly slid into the in-goal, but skidded across the turf on her ball-carrying arm without completing the grounding. The mistake was an embarrassment for one of the game’s most accomplished players, who shook her head as she watched the replay and the bunker disallowed the try.
It was the standout in a series of wild sequences in the first half, which also included two more disallowed tries – both would-be try-scorers adjudged out of play by millimetres – a fiery tussle between Queensland winger Julia Robinson and her opposite number Jaime Chapman, and one of the season’s best try-saving tackles.
Maroons centre Emily Bass grabbed a bouncing ball a metre out from the Blues try line with no one in front of her, but NSW fullback Abbi Church managed to race in and twist her opponent to prevent the grounding. It was a piece of skill befitting the Origin stage, as was the 20m cut-out pass by Jesse Southwell to set up the Blues’ second try.
The Blues had all the momentum in the second half when they raced to a 14-6 lead with 20 minutes to go. Interchange hooker Jocelyn Kelleher leaped out from dummy half and away from the clutches of Brigginshaw to score what appeared to be the decisive four-pointer.
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But 35-year-old Brigginshaw would have the last laugh. Five minutes later five-eighth Tarryn Aiken grubbered for Romy Teitzel to score, and then the captain sent Lenarduzzi over to curb celebrations in the Hunter.
“A bit of a disappointing end to the game three, but we’ve still got to keep our spirits high,” Church said. “We’re still going to get to lift the shield, we would have liked to get that clean sweep, but it wasn’t meant to be today.”
Maroons forward Jess Elliston ran for 143m was named player of the match, and Blues’ lock Olivia Kernick claimed the award for player of the series.
