Interstate defeat driving new era

JILLAROO Karina Brown says the Queensland women’s team has begun preparations for this year’s State of Origin clash in a bid to put two years of pain behind them.

The NRL will today open ticket sales for the interstate showdown, which will this year be played under the State of Origin banner and as a standalone match.

For 19 years, the annual match between Queensland and NSW has been the “interstate challenge”, with the ladies from the Sunshine State dominating the first 17 years.

But NSW have taken the past two games. Brown, who captained Queensland for the first time in 2017, said the pain of losing still burns the playing group, fuelling their drive to change their fortunes this season.

With a date now confirmed – June 22 at North Sydney Oval — Brown said the Queenslanders had already held three training sessions and were thriving under new coach, former Maroon Jason Hetherington.

“For the last 20 years, we’ve been getting into camp the week before the game but we realise NSW have set a new benchmark,” she said.