Sky Blues blitz Queensland in front of record Women’s Origin crowd to claim Game I

As the final few players sign their final few autographs on the field, we will also bid you farewell.

As we do every week, we’ll have extensive live blog coverage of Magic Round from Friday through Sunday on ABC Sport.

And of course we’ll be back on June 5 for men’s Origin I, followed by the second game of this Women’s Origin series the next night in Newcastle.

In the meantime, especially if you’re in Brisbane for Magic Round, just be good and look out for each other would ya?

Some of the Queenslanders were too distraught to speak to former Maroons captain Karina Brown for ABC Sport on the field after the game.

Brown and Origin legend Billy Moore say it’s good to hear.

“They’re passionate and it means something to them,” Brown says.

“Sometimes you’re just not up for a chat after a loss like that.”

Roosters and Maroons number seven Zehara Temara is gutted as she speaks to former Maroons captain Karina Brown on ABC Sport.

“Disappointing. We worked hard in our preparation. It’s a bit disappointing we’re not putting what we’re doing in practise out on the field,” Temara tells ABC Sport.

Temara says she has a lot to improve on.

“We need to act quickly.

“I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t State of Origin material.”

Her second half didn’t quite scale the heights of that opening 15 minutes, but NSW winger Jaime Chapman was sensational tonight and her brilliant start was the opening blow that rattled the Maroons and set up this win.

“Pretty happy. We had a job to do, to come to Queensland and win it on their home ground,” she tells ABC Sport.

“The atmosphere was amazing.

Chapman credits NSW’s seven-week preseason for overcoming the lack of a club season leading in, which Queensland had.

“We had a very good preparation coming in, everyone kind of doubted NSW having no games,” she says.

The 22-12 win over Queensland on the Maroons’ patch was a complete performance from this NSW Sky Blues, who overcame the lack of a premiership season in the lead-up, but coach Kylie Hilder clearly had them in phenomenal touch for this contest.

They absolutely blitzed Queensland out of the gates and weathered an almighty comeback in the second half, and refocused to seal the win.

Aside from that 15 or so minutes in the middle of the second half, NSW was in total control of the game thanks to … well, the entire team.

The back five – led by Emma Tonegato and Jaime Chapman – were immense, and the likes of Caitlan Johnston, Grace Kemp, Olivia Kernick and Yasmin Clydsdale owned the ruck.

The Maroons have plenty of soul searching to do, but will take some hope from that second-half comeback.

One last handling error from these exhausted Maroons and NSW will end the night with the ball in their hands. Can they put an exclamation mark on it?

Tarryn Aiken’s chip kick nutmegs Jaime Chapman (the only blemish on her evening) and Emily Bass dives over to score in the corner.

And Zehara Temara converts off the crossbar from the sideline to make it as close as possible, but thankfully, we don’t need to care about for-and-against this year.

The utterly dominant prop is as unstoppable as any forward in the NRLW and the new Cronulla signing seals the victory for the Sky Blues, charging through Shannon Mato, Tamika Upton and Romy Teitzel from close range.

Johnston spoke earlier this week about the body-shaming she received online after her signing with the Sharks was announced, and this performance tonight, while it’s nothing more than what we expect from her, is a phenomenal “stuff you” to those trolling morons.

The Maroons knock on 10 metres in front of their line and the Sky Blues set a scrum in the middle of the field.

The number 14 has completely swung the game in Queensland’s favour since coming onto the field and perfectly spies a late-retreating defender, scooting over next to the posts, but she’s just dropped it cold over the line!

The Sky Blues can feel the Maroons surging and there’s some frustration setting in out there.

A few shots are slipping up and there’s a bit of rubbish in the ruck, but Kasey Badger is letting the girls play.

Tamika Upton forces a line dropout with a perfectly weighted grubber that Emma Tonegato bumps over the dead-ball line.

Emma Manzelmann and Ali Brigginshaw, fresh back on the field for Lauren Brown, had them shot to bits through the middle and then spun it out left. It looked like Tarryn Aiken was through,but Rachael Pearson arrived from nowhere to stop her dead.

Absolute game-changing play from the halfback.

And the Maroons’ last tackle falls apart out on the right.

It was a little blindside sneak from close, not exactly the scything, loping run that we’ve come to expect from her, but it was a brilliant moment of footballing IQ from a women who knows how to sniff out a try.

“She’s the run, she’s the gun, she’s the pointy end of the Queensland attack,” Billy Moore says on ABC Sport.

There are 25,492 people at Lang Park tonight, smashing last year’s record by 7,000.

“It makes me so proud,” says the first Maroons Women’s State of Origin captain, Karina Brown, on ABC Sport.

“Huge thanks to the fans for coming out.”

‘The Maroons must score this set of six,” says Billy Moore on ABC Sport, just before Tarryn Aiken knocks it on cold as Queensland try to put on a left-side shift.

The diminutive Aiken put her body in the line with big hits on Jaime Chapman and Emma Tonegato, but she looks gassed now.

The middle for the Maroons is very vulnerable right now with Tarryn Aiken, Destiny Brill, Lauren Brown and Zehara Temara all on the park.

Captain Ali Brigginshaw comes off and Lauren Brown comes on.

Brown is a superstar who can play anywhere (reminds me of Shaun Berrigan because she’s a world-class outside back and hooker) but it looks she’s slotted straight into dummy half.

The cross-field kick yet again finds Jaime Chapman, but Emily Bass stops her down low and Evania Pelite scrambles to force Jess Sergis into touch after offload, with her desperate pass back in-field cleaned up for Queensland by Tazmin Rapana.

Five-eighth Tarryn Aiken rolls in the grubber and it sits up perfectly. Emma Tonegato can only stand under it and get thumped back into the in-goal by Tazmin Rapana and Evania Pelite.

Queensland has another chance.

But debutant Makenzie Weale knocks on and the chance goes begging.