Queensland’s against-the-odds victory is the stuff Origin legends are made of

Could anything else have gone against Queensland in Newcastle?

The conditions didn’t suit them. Their attack just couldn’t get going. The Blues had the home ground advantage, the lead heading into the final minutes and the chance to wrap up the series. 

It wouldn’t surprise to hear Tahnee Norris’s side had missed their flight and had to walk down to the Hunter from Brisbane. 

But, like all the greatest wins through Origin, by the end it seemed as though if it was the Maroons against the world then the world wouldn’t have a chance. 

Queensland’s 11-10 victory doesn’t just send the series to Townsville for a decider, it marks perhaps the finest win by either state in women’s State of Origin history.

There have been higher-quality games, certainly. Perhaps more entertaining ones as well.

But no win has been tougher. No win has been braver. No win has felt more in tune with the mythology of Origin football. Apart from a victory that wraps up the series, no win would feel more joyous and no loss would feel more bitter. 

Games like this prove the destination is better than the journey. Given conditions started out as atrocious and only got worse from there, points were always going to be in short supply. 

This was the kind of night where the goalposts swayed in the wind and you could have gone swimming in some of the puddles that gathered over the sideline. 

As such, moments of attacking inspiration were rare and prized. This couldn’t be about fancy footy and adding to the highlight reel.

Games like this one are built on hanging tough and sticking together, about getting into a knife fight in the mud and winning, about never giving up and finding something more when you think there’s nothing left. 

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Sharp footy can decide it – Tarryn Aiken’s try in the final minutes was razor-sharp and Lauren Brown showed great poise and execution, first with her conversion to level the scores, then with her match-winning field goal moments later – but none of that happens without enough muscle and will to set it up. 

Queensland will never lack for the former but if it came down to a contest in the latter, New South Wales were supposed to have the edge. 

The Sky Blues won Game I on the back of their power across the park, especially in the middle of the field. They’ve got the size advantage, they aren’t afraid to use it and they’re smart enough to know how. 

For most of the game, that looked to be enough. Olivia Kernick was excellent again in the middle of the field. Caitlin Johnston was a wrecking machine. 

There was tough, hard footy, with plenty of second efforts in defence. It was as close to being enough without quite getting there. 

The Maroons have speed and skill, but those don’t fly when you’re playing underwater. It makes their triumph all the sweeter and all the more impressive – they played the Blues at their own game and won. 

Like the best creative footballers, Aiken took her chance when it came. So did Ali Brigginshaw, the master playmaker of her time, when she created a try for Shenae Ciesolka to open Queensland’s account, albeit not until deep in the second half.

But there was no shortage of heroes. Keilee Joseph went hell for leather. Evania Pelite can be a terrific strike centre but this time she worked so hard she may as well have been wearing hi-vis. Rookies, like lock forward Sienna Lofipo, made plays like they were veterans, like her charge to get her side into range for Brown’s late winner. 

Player of the match Shannon Mato typified the performance. You can look at her stat sheet, which was full, but there’s an easier way to sum it up – she played like a Queenslander. 

This series is still there to be won for both sides. The Blues are adamant the expected drier conditions in Townsville will suit them enough to offset what will be a riotous home crowd for Queensland. 

It’s just what the Maroons will want to hear. Backs to the wall? Despised underdogs? Nobody thinks they can do it? Thats just how they like it. 

But, regardless of what happens next, Origin’s mythical qualities come from games like this. It’ll last well beyond when everybody dries off the rain, washes off the mud and turns their eyes to the future. 

The power and spirit of that future will come from the past and Queensland winning in the wet in Newcastle belongs to the ages now.