A strong fight late in the first half turned into a sour night for the Maroons as NSW took the opener as they did a year ago, 32-12 from the Cauldron.
It would be a night for many a debutant tonight, as 8 rookies marched into battle looking to taste their first win in the Origin arena.
From the beginning, the Maroons were uncharacteristically off, as Ali Brigginshaw sent the ball into the grandstands out on the full. Jesse Southwell began her League Unlimited player of the match performance with the first of a few line dropouts forced for the night.
The Blueprint was clear from the start of the match, Kernick the lynchpin through the second phase setting up an offload for Yasmin Clydsdale as she put a path clear for 10-match veteran Jess Sergis for the opening try.
A fortuitous try quickly swung the momentum back for the Maroons as the ball bounced off Julia Robinson's shoulder and into the lap of Sienna Lofipo for the game tier.
The NSW Centres have been stalwarts for the last half decade and the skipper continued that leadership scoring a try of her own set up by the halfback Southwell. Jesse continued her short kicking game, constantly rolling the ball into the in-goal and causing havoc for the opposition.
The backline continued to hum as Abbi Church layed on a pass for another of the debutants Jayme Fressard who crossed for her first Origin try.
Queensland had been suffocated defensively by the Blues for 10-12 minutes straight and they were re-leaved with a well-needed penalty. On the ensuing blow of the whistle, Rory Owen split a fragile Blues defensive line as they brought the game back to a two-point deficit. Right-side defenders Jess Sergis and the newly married Tiana Penitani Gray suffered injury scares and looked quite limp before the half-time interval.
We were indeed watching a battering contest as Olivia Kernick found herself in the firing line coping a knee from the leg of Tavarna Papalii nearing halftime. The Blues held out QLD before the break to keep it to 2.
HT: Blues 14-12 Maroons
The Maroons came out after half-time on the attack, with hooker Lauren Brown looking dangerous every time she touched the football. The night however started to sour for Queensland, losing Debutant winger Jasmine Peters to a failed HIA forcing a re-shuffle.
Jaime Chapman swung the momentum further in favour of the Women's Blues as Jayme Fressard was the beneficiary of a try double, NSW extending their lead. Blues Fullback Abbi Church growing with confidence, outplaying the normally dangerous Tamika Upton.
With the starting forwards coming back into the fray, it was yet another of the blues Debutants who found their way over the paint this time in the form of Ellie Johnston crashing over on the burst! It was a case of winning moments going against the Maroons, as a sneaky one-on-one steal from Sergis eventually led to a 2-point penalty goal taken by Jesse Southwell.
The Maroons succame to the onslaught of possession and pressure from both sides of the footy, as Abbi Church capped off a memorable night for the Parramatta Eels fullback as she bullied her way to the line emotionally in the embrace of her teammates as they realized an eventual win for the Blues.
An early expansive gameplan from the Blues transitioned to a methodical starvation of the Maroons as they could not fire a shot in the second half at all. Normally key cogs in the QLD wheel, both Ali Brigginshaw and Tamika Upton could not get anything going at all.
The Maroons now with it all to do as the girls head to Allianz for a do-or-die clash in a Fortnight time.