Womens State of Origin 2024 - Game 1 Suncorp Stadium Thursday 15 May

Concerns about the lack of points in the spine wasn’t proven incorrect at all. 2 tries in the opening 10 minutes that the halves had nothing to do with, and then 55 minutes of nothing despite plenty of possession and field positioning before Higgins put Johnston over with a set play.

I thought Pearson’s kicking game was solid. Barely noticed Baxter. A win's a win so I’m sure they’ll both be back for game 2.
 
Watching the game live it just looked like a huge physical mismatch, both in terms of the 1-2 punch of Millie and CJ and out wide (particularly Jaime Chapman (hubba hubba), absolutely ate Pelite and Bass alive out wide). Didn’t feel like Pearson and Baxter had much to do with the win and in fact I thought their game management to close it out was pretty shocking.
 
The training camp definitely helped with quality of first game compared to last year.

Yeah that NSW spine would definitely be a much bigger issue if they weren’t so physically dominant everywhere else.

Not sure why QLD took so long to put Manzelmann on, she had immediate impact. Think the game might be moving past Brigganshaw. They need Lauren Brown on the field more as well.
 
danknights said:
Keen for game 2 in Newcastle. Please everyone try get tickets. We need to beat Suncorp! Lessgooo
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Got 6 the day they went on sale….was checking out the seat bookings the other day and I reckon it looked like most of the concourse seating s gone (I’d say at least 85%.)

The Eastern and Western stands look like they are about 40-50% sold and I’ve got no idea how many hill general admission tickets might have been sold but I reckon there will be a lot of people/families who’d get the value tickets at either end of the ground.

I reckon we should go close even on current sales….BUT I hope we drag a lot more out of the woodwork now(for both camps) to create a spectacle that means we become a regular venue on the NRLW SoO calendar for years to come
 
I suspect these training sessions have been at a new level for the women's game.
Putting all those gifted athletes together to train hard seems to have lifted several - or even most - to a new level.
Grace Kemp was the most obvious. She showed glimpses of being that good last year, but she was unstoppable against the best possible opposition last night.
It's possible that what seemed odd selections in game one reflects who got through the "hunger games" of the training sessions best.

www.nswrl.com.au

Unorthodox preparation rated as one of Sky Blues best

The Westpac NSW Sky Blues pathways training camp has them fit and firing for Game One of the Ampol Women's State of Origin series.
www.nswrl.com.au www.nswrl.com.au

Hilder added that some of the training sessions had been so brutal that even the coaching staff had winced, with back-rower Yasmin Clydsdale suffering a busted eardrum after collecting the hip of Sky Blues co-captain Kezie Apps.

“We had to replicate not having any football so we had a squad of 36 and there were some very dark sessions where even I would sit back and go ‘Ooooh’,” Hilder said.
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Watched SOO last night, first time I have watched the women’s game, was hugely surprised at the pace and competitiveness of the game, absolutely agree with Clydesdale award. Enjoyed the game very much.
 
Newygirl said:
The training camp definitely helped with quality of first game compared to last year.

Yeah that NSW spine would definitely be a much bigger issue if they weren’t so physically dominant everywhere else.

Not sure why QLD took so long to put Manzelmann on, she had immediate impact. Think the game might be moving past Brigganshaw. They need Lauren Brown on the field more as well.
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I agree re the NSW spine...but I have to admit that what Hilder has done is having them play as 1 unit, with everybody executing their job and managing to put in place a simple but effective game plan that overwhelmed the Qlders in the first half - the obvious concern on that front is that they had already developed an approach in the second half to counter that and they won't be caught out in game 2.

What that will mean for the next game re strategies, squad changes, etc. will be the real test we need to meet, to take out the series in Newcastle.

And yes, the use of Emma Manzelmann really surprised me as well - She is an absolute strike weapon in lifting the tempo and exploiting tired forwards and she was pretty much single handedly breaking down the Blues defensive structures and created 90% of the Qld attacking spark in the second half.

On Ali Brigganshaw, I reckoned that she was actually being found out by the Blues (particularly defensively) in the 2 game series last year to be honest and I was actually glad they selected her this year because I saw her as a weak link the Blues could exploit.

I am glad we dominated the game the way we did to win game 1 BUT I am worried that Hilder's 'advantage' in this game was more enthusiasm, match fitness and surprise that allowed us to ambush them....she won't have that luxury in game 2
 
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danknights said:
I sit here and laugh at the fact we chose Pearson over a 2 time young premiership winner. It's like choosing Dean Hawkins over Andrew johns 🤣
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I am definitely with you in the selection deliberations used to pick the side but I will give Pearson her due, her assignment in attack was fairly simple to execute but I thought she was defensively right up their (even under fatigue) throughout the game.

I say that because, if I'm honest, that is one key aspect of Jesse's game that has the most room for improvement and exploiting that is something Queensland would definitely target, while she is still improving her all round game.

It is not about saying she is a liability, it is just something that will take time to develop as part of her physically maturing
 
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