Women's State of Origin 2024 - Game 2 McDonald Jones Stadium Thursday 6th June 2024

Blues have been so on top physically in both games but failed to get the advantage from it they should have. Jesse Southwell aside, you can’t tell me this game was in reach for Queensland if the Blues picked Preston and Dibb.
 
Another game NSW dominate in every facet except for being able to score points. I wonder what could lead to such a problem. Couldn't be the halves that Hilder was getting offended over people questioning.

Clydsdale will be filthy with herself for the Aiken try.

Johnston had a couple of eye popping moments but little substance beyond them.

Upton struggles with the wet but never stops trying.
 
Losing that is even more frustrating with how poor QLD were. Did everything we could to lose that in the final 15 minutes.
 
Hate to say it. But Caitlin lazy defence leading to the Aikan try, dropped ball and the attempted charge town that she barely attempted to raise her arms or get there. Were poor.

Wasn’t deciding factor but very glaring.

I could believe qld wouldn’t attack Sergio’s side after she was a passenger.

Great game. Shame to not to nail it but good for the game.
 
The NSW girls will be very disappointed that they let that game get away from them, they had the chance to wrap up the series but could not play consistently for the whole game.
 
Kurriboy said:
I thought QLD were too reliant on Brigginshaw all game. For mine she is a spent force.

Upton didn't get involved enough.

NSW easily the dominant team but lapses in defence cost them the game in the end.
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I’ve recalled Hannah making some comments about how Tamika was held back by the Broncos, wasn’t allowed to play her natural game & be as dominant as she should be. Maybe the politics at the Broncos, where everything is Ali’s way or the highway, extends to the Maroons.

I’ll try not to be too sexist here but I do get a vibe there is a lot of this sort of thing in the women’s game, especially in the rep scene. Cliques, favouritism, internal politics. Obviously plenty in the men’s game too, but I just can’t imagine an equivalent male player to someone like Dibb - basically what you’d make in a lab if you were trying to cook up an Origin half, a big athlete with all the tools and very good off the cuff - being overlooked the way she has been this year, when the alternatives picked over her are one girl who literally can’t run and one who’s a middling fullback.
 
QLD had absolutely no business winning that game, they were never in it. NSW are so physically dominant, it shouldn’t even really be
a contest.

Yeah the politics of it all is ********. Club coaches shouldn’t be involved with Origin but it’s probably unavoidable while the game is still in this semi-professional era.

Yeah the Knights are the only ones that have ever really used Tamika effectively. She didn’t get used well for Australia either.
 
Tamika in my mind is without a doubt the best player in the womens game.

For mine the womens game still has a long way to go refining their game to the point of athelticism and elite skill shown in the mens game.

But, Tamika would be outstanding even once the womens game reaches that point.

Last night it really looked like qld were moving the ball away from her a lot, but also Tamika didnt look to get involved like she does at the Knights.

It should have cost qld the game. And if the womens game was further developed, no way NSW don't win comfortably with how they dominated.
 
Kurriboy said:
Tamika in my mind is without a doubt the best player in the womens game.

For mine the womens game still has a long way to go refining their game to the point of athelticism and elite skill shown in the mens game.

But, Tamika would be outstanding even once the womens game reaches that point.

Last night it really looked like qld were moving the ball away from her a lot, but also Tamika didnt look to get involved like she does at the Knights.

It should have cost qld the game. And if the womens game was further developed, no way NSW don't win comfortably with how they dominated.
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Agreed she is the best!!
It was a very wet game last night which I think would of affected her game.
But once she did start to involve herself near the end QLD definitely picked up their game
I hope game 3 she doesn't get involved again
 
Newygirl said:
Yeah the politics of it all is ********. Club coaches shouldn’t be involved with Origin but it’s probably unavoidable while the game is still in this semi-professional era.
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Where do I start???

NSW - better and more dominant side for 90% of the game but the game plan and capability of some of the players (particularly halves) meant we were very 1 dimensional and lacked any ability to think outside the box, use the conditions to our advantage, etc and capitalise on that dominance

Casey Badger is a FAR BETTER referee than Belinda Sharpe and particularly at Origin level - her control of the ruck was absolutely abysmal for a State of Origin game last night...the ability to lay in the ruck for an eternity (for both sides) was such a game killer for the spectacle that the game should have been. It was really disappointing that, instead of half the expectations allowed for in a club game, she consistently allowed twice the time between a tackle and the play ball?! And just to add a bit of variety to the benchmark, she would occasionally call a random ruck infringement as though she realised the stats must have been getting a bit out of balance😳. And if the hair pull on Clydsdale didn't sit in the deliberate act of a professional foul and warrant 10 in the bin, then you might as well grab a handful at every opportunity, saddle them up and start waving your arm around like you are rodeo rider?!

Coaching - apart from the selection bias that clearly affected the squad make up, so well articulated by @Newiegirl in an earlier post, the game plan and player rotation was also very poorly managed IMHO...

I know many have bagged out Caitlan Johnston's second stint but she effectively had well over an hour of cooling down on the side lines in between her stints on a wet, miserable, cold night...and was then expected to just step back up and get straight back into a high impact role and try turning the momentum by herself. Olivia Higgins was in the same boat...as a player regularly used to playing out the full game, the time on the side lines can be more of a negative than a positive in player effectiveness in these integral roles...

Truth is, the Blues still should have done more with the ball in that dominant period than putting 1 try on the board and using that wind to their advantage in the second half but I also believe that the issues I highlight above are still valid in really detracting from a game that should have been a better spectacle than it ended up being to promote what should be the pinnacle of our sport
 
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Any word on suspensions or injuries yet?
That hairpull on Clydesdale was the worst I've seen. I remember when NRLW started an accidental hairpull would get you 10 in the bin. That one last night she grabbed on and refused to let go till she had tackled her by the hair alone. It should be worth 3 weeks.
Brigginshaws trip looked worthy of suspension too.
A few of the NSW girls were clearly playing injured. I don't know why you'd have Whitfeld as 19th player and Chapman and Sergis both playing injured.
 
They have decided the hair pull was a grade 1 offence and a $400 fine.
I assume grade 2 would be pulling all her hair out and grade 3 would be an actual scalping with a tomahawk.
 
Well I was there, NSW so dominant should've won by 20. Halves were lacklustre, CJ cost us the game with two crucial errors. Bench used poorly. Could go on about it.
I'll give the crowd a wrap.....it didn't stop raining the whole game especially GA ticket holders.
 
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