New South Wales won game two of the women’s State of Origin on Thursday night, beating Queensland 18-14 in front of a record crowd of 18, 275 people.
Despite the win, the celebration was somewhat muted for New South Wales as it was Queensland who were crowned winners of the two-game origin series.
The winner of the series was decided using an aggregate scoring system, meaning whichever team scored the most points across the two-game series would be crowned winners. Queensland won the first game of the series, 18-10, which meant they had more points overall.
This year is the first time the women’s series has consisted of two games, previously there was a single origin game.
The disappointing end to the series for both teams has prompted calls from all sides to introduce a three-game series next year, to bring it into line with the men’s State of Origin structure and allow for a decider.
Queensland fullback Tamika Upton told ABC Sport that the players deserved a better structure.
“It’s crap isn’t it? I think everyone here deserves better,” she said.
“We appreciate the extra game, but results like that make you wonder if you’d prefer to just play the one game. It’s tough as a competitor.”
New South Wales player Jess Sergis also commented that having a three-game series would have been better for both teams.
“If we had a three-game series this was our chance to get redemption and we would have had one more to take it out and win it, but we only got the two games,” she said. “This is just such a weird feeling, to be honest.”
With State of Origin now done and dusted, we are now just one month out from the start of the NRLW season, which has been confirmed for July 22. The season is set to be the sport’s biggest yet, with an expansion to a 10-team competition played over nine rounds, and a new broadcast deal that will see games televised in prime time.