NSW have produced a dominant performance in the U19s Women’s State of Origin clash, blowing their Queensland rivals off the park in a 46-4 thrashing.
A shaky start from the Blues allowed Queensland an early opportunity, but their defence held on strong before going up the other end to score through Kasey Reh.
Ebony Raftstrand-Smith managed to put her side on the board with a powerful try, but the Blues hit back moments later as Lindsay Tui took advantage of some lazy defence.
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Queensland put in a short dropout and Tui caught it on the full, before beating her opposing outside backs to cross untouched, shifting the momentum.
”The short dropout backfires big time .. the Samoan international couldn’t believe her eyes when it opened up on that left wing,” Brenton Speed said on Nine.
Phil Gould was stunned by the lack of urgency from the Maroons on their own line.
“There’s two parts to the short kick-off – there’s the skill of actually doing the short kick-off and then you’ve got to have some chasers,” he said.
“You’ve got to have some people competing for the ball and Queensland were very bunched in defence there. I’m not sure whether they actually communicated that they were going short.
“It was brilliantly finished … she knew before she caught it, she was smiling as she beats two defenders.”
Watch the 2024 Under 19s State of Origin game live and free on Nine and 9Now.
From there, the floodgates opened for the Blues, with hooker Chelsea Savill and back-rower Evah McEwen extending the lead for the Blues before the break as the Maroons struggled to hang with a classy opposition.
Things continued to go from bad to worse after the break for Queensland, with the referee getting in the way of Montaya Hudson in the in-goal area, allowing Bronte Wilson to further extend the lead for the Blues.
“It was a nightmare for Hudson with the referee in the road … NSW did not switch off and they score again,” Speed said.
The Bunker would add further salt into wounds, denying a try for Shauna Barnham before Maria Paseka and Evie McGrath put the game to bed with back-to-back tries.
Ryvrr-Lee Alo continued the second-half onslaught with just over 10 minutes remaining, before young gun Indie Bostock lit up Leichhardt Oval with a solo try.
“She is a flyer this girl … brilliant try to the Blues, wonderful athleticism,” Gould said.
The star of the show was undoubtedly Bostock’s partner in crime at St George Illawarra in playmaker Reh, who showed why she is an NRLW star of the future.