No.13 Brigginshaw’s lucky break

Queensland legend Ali Brigginshaw is loving life back in the forwards as she prepares to line up at lock in the Women’s State of Origin series opener against NSW on Thursday.

Seeing the champion Broncos, Jillaroos and Maroons No.7 at lock will bring back some bad memories for the Blues because the last time Brigginshaw did that for Queensland, the Maroons won the series in 2021.

The 33-year-old will start in the No.13 jersey at Commbank Stadium in Sydney as they Maroons unleash a new style of footy under coach Tahnee Norris with Zahara Temara lining up at halfback alongside former Bronco-turned Rooster Tarryn Aiken at five-eighth.

“I love it,” Brigginshaw said on her return to the pack. “I think it’s a bit of a challenge.

It mixes it up and we’ve got great halves in Tarryn and Zahara and we’ve got some more ball-playing in there in the middle. We’re playing a different style I guess this year and, we’re all learning.

“When we come to the training sessions with the coaching staff, we’re all learning something different. I love a challenge, so bring it on.”

Brigginshaw has no issues with the late changes introduced for the two-game series which would see the winner decided on aggregate if it finishes 1-1.

“Whenever you pull on this jersey, you never want to think about if you lost the first one or what that looked like, so Tahnee’s been very clear on you just win both games,” she said.

Brigginshaw would however like to the series extended to three matches.

The 2023 series concludes in Townsville on June 22.