Latest news with #Women'sStateofOriginI
ABC News
07-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Queensland Maroons announce team for Women's State of Origin Game II
Queensland coach Tahnee Norris has resisted making sweeping changes despite needing to win Game II to save the women's Origin series, with only one new face on the bench. Brisbane Broncos forward Chelsea Lenarduzzi replaces Destiny Brill, who will move to the extended reserves as Queensland attempts to keep their dreams of retaining the shield alive. Lenarduzzi has played for Queensland six times since 2017 and gives some added size to the Maroons, who lost the opener 32-12 at Lang Park on May 1. "I wanted to bolster the size in our middle, and Chelsea gives us that," Norris said. "I'm excited to see what Duzzi (Lenarduzzi) can bring to the team. She's got a big frame and work rate, so it'll be good for us. Photo shows Composite image of Jesse Southwell, Ali Brigginshaw and Ellie Johnston in Women's State of Origin I. Eye gouges, hair pulls, a classic duel and a glorious night for the new kids on the block. Here are five quick hits from the Women's State of Origin series opener. "I am disappointed for Destiny after she missed out, but I am eager to see what game two will look like." NSW go into game two at Allianz Stadium on May 15 with an unchanged starting 17, although there is one change on the extended bench. North Queensland playmaker Kirra Dibb drops out of the squad to be replaced by Sydney Roosters winger Brydie Parker. The Sky Blues can wrap up the series with a victory, while Queensland will be hoping for a repeat of last year, after winning the series despite losing the first game. NSW Women's State of Origin Game II squad Abbi Church Jaime Chapman Jessica Sergis Isabelle Kelly Jayme Fressard Tiana Penitani Gray Jesse Southwell Simaima Taufa Keeley Davis Ellie Johnston Kezie Apps Yasmin Clydsdale Olivia Kernick Jocelyn Kelleher Kennedy Cherrington Sarah Togatuki Emma Verran Shaylee Bent Olivia Higgins Brydie Parker Queensland Women's State of Origin Game II squad Tamika Upton Julia Robinson Shenae Ciesiolka Rory Owen Jasmine Peters Tarryn Aiken Ali Brigginshaw Makenzie Weale Lauren Brown Jessika Elliston Sienna Lofipo Romy Teitzel Keilee Joseph Jada Ferguson Sophie Holyman Chelsea Lenarduzzi Tavarna Papalii Georgia Hannaway Destiny Brill Hayley Maddick AAP ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that's making headlines. The ABC of SPORT Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday. Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
ABC News
01-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Blues hooker Keeley Davis makes eye-gouging allegation in State of Origin opener against Maroons
NSW hooker Keeley Davis has alleged she was eye-gouged during the Women's State of Origin opener against Queensland on Thursday night. Photo shows Jocelyn Kelleher, Isabelle Kelly, Tiana Penitani, Kezie Apps and Shaylee Bent smile after winning State of Origin I. The Blues have used more than twice as many halves as Queensland in the past decade of Women's State of Origin. Thursday's series opener suggests that carousel is about to stop. The Blues have also claimed Davis was bitten during last year's series. Blues captain Isabelle Kelly and Davis approached referee Belinda Sharpe to lodge a formal complaint Davis was unsure which player had allegedly gouged her but first gestured to her eye following a hit from Maroons forwards Keilee Joseph and Romy Teitzel just before Kelly scored the Blues' second try. Sharpe placed the incident on report without naming a Maroons player, but Davis was adamant she had been gouged. "I felt an eye gouge," Davis said after the match. "It's the Origin arena, things happen. There's a difference when it's incidental than on purpose." The match had still been in the balance with NSW leading 10-6 when Kelly and Davis approached Sharpe to lodge their complaint. Photo shows Composite image of Jesse Southwell, Ali Brigginshaw and Ellie Johnston in Women's State of Origin I. Eye gouges, hair pulls, a classic duel and a glorious night for the new kids on the block. Here are five quick hits from the Women's State of Origin series opener. "She wasn't sure who (did it). There were a couple in the tackle," Blues coach John Strange said. "She told the ref, they put it on report so they'll have a look at it." Kelly insisted such an incident would not have distracted her Sydney Roosters teammate from her pivotal role as hooker. "If you know Keeley, you know that's not going to rattle her," she said. "I told any of the girls to come to me with anything if they need to and that's exactly what I did — put my players first." Pointing to evidence of Davis's resilience, Strange revealed 24-year-old Davis had played on after another alleged incident in the 2024 Origin series. "She told us she got bit last year," said Strange, who also coaches the Roosters. It left Kelly to approach Davis before this year's series and encourage her not to stay quiet if any foul play happened in the second annual three-match series. "I said, 'If anything happens this time, you make sure you tell me'," Kelly said. "She's a professional Keeley, she's been great. I thought she was great tonight as well. I knew it wasn't going to affect her." Do you have a story idea about women in sport? Email us Davis finished with 12 tackles and 39 run metres from her 41 minutes at hooker. She said she was able to quickly move on from the alleged eye-gouging incident. "It's like an error, you've got to be a goldfish, and all the best players are goldfish about things that they don't want to remember," Davis said. "And even good things, you just have to keep your focus on the next job." AAP
ABC News
01-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
NSW Blues halfback Jesse Southwell delivers killer blows missing from Origin series past
The Blues hunt in packs. Kezie Apps is a living legend sharing a scrum with back-row mainstays Yasmin Clydsdale and Olivia Kernick, both of whom refuse to leave the field. Photo shows Abbi Church is mobbed by NSW Blues teammates during the Women's State of Origin Game I. The Blues dominate the second half of the Women's State of Origin series opener, winning 32-12 in front of a record 26,022 people at Lang Park. Centres Isabelle Kelly and Jessica Sergis spend most of the game miles apart but always feel like a package deal. But, for a team that has picked itself in so many positions over the years, the halves have been in constant flux. For the past decade, Queensland have picked some combination of Ali Brigginshaw, Tarryn Aiken and/or Zehara Temara while NSW has named a new partnership every year, ultimately naming 11 different sixes and sevens in the same time Queensland has used five. But in Tiana Penitani-Gray, the Sharks captain and a centre by trade, didn't kick the ball once but did her job as a running five-eighth, including a second-half line break. She was praised by first-time Origin coach John Strange for her defensive work on opposite number Tarryn Aiken, and her experience in one of the most fast-twitch defensive positions in the game no doubt helped her corral superstar fullback Tamika Upton on a number of occasions. It left Loading Twitter content She's still only 20 years old and yet her elevation feels belated because Her class with ball in hand was crucial in the series-opening win and her control with the boot ensured almost every NSW set had an ending befitting the six tackles that preceded it. In the first set, after Brigginshaw booted out on the full with her first offering, Southwell showed the old hand how it's done, with a tidy dink into the in-goal for a repeat set. Jesse Southwell's creativity and control was just what new coach John Strange wanted. ( Getty Images: Chris Hyde ) A few plays later the Blues opened the scoring through Jess Sergis. Last year, halfback Rachael Pearson struggled particularly in the high-pressure decider in Newcastle, and it cost the Blues. They dominated through the middle thanks to a forward pack led by gun props Millie Elliott and Caitlan Johnston, both of whom will miss the 2025 series while having children. Photo shows Composite image of Jesse Southwell, Ali Brigginshaw and Ellie Johnston in Women's State of Origin I. Eye gouges, hair pulls, a classic duel and a glorious night for the new kids on the block. Here are five quick hits from the Women's State of Origin series opener. Strange replaced them with Caitlan's sister, Ellie, who stormed over for a try on debut in very Caitlan fashion, and veteran middle Simaima Taufa, who has been playing rep footy for over a decade. But while NSW corrected their issues and covered their losses, the Maroons appear to have a tougher task plugging up gaps in the middle. Shannon Mato's pregnancy means last year's player of the series is missing from the Queensland forward pack, and her equally damaging offsider, Tazmin Rapana, has retired from representative football. That's a lot of impact to have in Mato's replacement, Keilee Joseph, made just 17 post-contact metres in her seven charges. Front-row partners Jessika Elliston and Lauren Brown took six hit-ups and missed six tackles respectively. Without Mato and Rapana, Romy Teitzel was the only Queenslander who ran for over 100 metres, and most of that came after she was moved to the centres to cover for the concussed Jasmine Peters. Do you have a story idea about women in sport? Email us If none of the Maroons can find their front in a tackle, it won't allow the likes of Aiken, Upton and Julia Robinson to "get their footy on", as men's coach Billy Slater is so fond of saying. Queensland's Origin folklore is almost entirely on a bedrock held together by welterweights taking on heavies, but the Blues peeled off every bit of paper and revealed a host of cracks that Tahnee Norris, Brigginshaw, Upton and Co have just two weeks to address. The ABC of SPORT Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday. Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
