Queensland skipper Ali Brigginshaw has revealed the stirring message she gave Maroons debutant Keilee Joseph before her Player of the Match performance in the State of Origin opener.
Joseph was outstanding, running for 103 metres and laying 23 tackles as the Maroons claimed a vital 18-10 victory at CommBank Stadium in Sydney.
The 21-year-old lock played with the words “nanny” and “poppy” written on her taped wrists as she revealed her sick grandfather had been a major source of inspiration.
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However, Joseph’s grandparents weren’t her only source of inspiration on the night, with her skipper Brigginshaw opening up on her own words of advice to her young teammate.
“I spoke to her before the game and said, ‘You don’t want to be a one-game player, you want to [play for] 10 years’,” she told Nine.
“I wanted her to set her standards and set a legacy for that jersey and she did that tonight.”
Joseph revealed that she was “very, very nervous” in the lead-up to the match, calling her Player of the Match award “amazing”.
Queensland also revealed how the stirring comeback win from their male counterparts on Wednesday night laid the platform for their own victory.
“Definitely (drew inspiration from last night), the boys played an awesome game and we wanted to bring that out tonight as well,” Maroons star Julia Robinson, who scored a double, told Nine.
“We just had to be calm and set ourselves back up and just go out there and connect with each other.”
“I was just so proud of how the girls were together as a team. We watched the boys last night and they just showed up for each other, so if anything, watching them showed us the way,” added Brigginshaw.
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“We’ve got so many young kids, but I loved how we brought it together.”
The two sides will meet again in Townsville on June 22 for the series finale, with NSW needing a victory by nine points or more to retain the Origin shield.
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