And we’re off! Queensland has kicked off and the game is underway. The teams are out on the field now, with the Welcome to Country being delivered by Kumarah Kelly and the national anthem performed by Leigh Archer. For the Maroons, Lauren Brown with her first start in halfback in Origin is determined that her team is pumped to win this game, despite the fact that the series win is out of the question. “You never know with this rain what’s going to happen, but we’re a very pumped Queensland team ready to win this game,” she says. Kicking off the broadcast coverage with a classic Gus Gould monologue, talking up the possibility of the Blues’ first whitewash – men’s or women’s – since 2000. Blues’ five-eighth Tiana Penitani Gray is excited by the prospect, but emphasises the team isn’t getting ahead of itself. “It would mean the world, there’s such a rich history in this series,” she says. “But just to hold up the shield for the first time in a three match series will be amazing.” A late change for Queensland, with Emily Bass coming from the reserves into the starting line, playing in the centres for Rory Owen, who has been ruled out of the match. Georgia Hannaway will make her debut for the Maroons tonight from the interchange bench. 1. Abbi Church 2. Jaime Chapman 3. Jessica Sergis 4. Isabelle Kelly 5. Jayme Fressard 6. Tiana Penitani Gray 7. Jesse Southwell 8. Simaima Taufa 9. Keeley Davis 10. Ellie Johnston 11. Kezie Apps 12. Yasmin Clydsdale 13. Olivia Kernick Interchange: 14. Jocelyn Kelleher 15. Kennedy Cherrington 16. Sarah Togatuki 17. Emma Verran Reserves: 18. Olivia Higgins 1. Hayley Maddick 2. Julia Robinson 3. Shenae Ciesiolka 19. Emily Bass 5. Jasmine Peters 6. Tarryn Aiken 7. Lauren Brown 8. Makenzie Weale 9. Destiny Brill 10. Jessika Elliston 11. Sienna Lofipo 12. Romy Teitzel 16. Chelsea Lenarduzzi Interchange: 13. Ali Brigginshaw 14. Georgia Hannaway 15. Sophie Holyman 17. Tavarna Papalii Reserves: 18. Jada Ferguson Hello everyone and welcome to Origin III! I missed live blogging the last one with you all due to being at the game, live and in person, which was very exciting – fortunately I was safely undercover, unlike the players. It looks like things will be mostly dry in Newcastle tonight, which I’m sure will be a welcome change from the swimming pool the players waded through in Sydney two weeks ago. Now of course the elephant in the room is that this is a dead rubber – NSW took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series after winning in Sydney, so it is only pride on the line for Queensland tonight, while NSW will be motivated by securing the whitewash (bluewash?) For the Blues, John Strange has made no changes going into the final game of the series, meaning the same 17 players will line up in all three games. Meanwhile, it’s quite a different story for the Maroons, with injuries to star fullback Tamika Upton and lock Keilee Joseph. Despite the match being a dead rubber, there’s hope the crowd will still turn up in numbers tonight. Game I of the series set a new crowd record, while over 16,000 braved the rain in Sydney. Newcastle represented hard last year in torrential rain, so let’s see if they can do the same this year! Kick off is at 7.45pm AEST, which isn’t too far away, so let’s get into it and count down to this final match of the series!
Author: Megan Maurice