- NSW Blues beat Queensland Maroons 22-14 at Suncorp Stadium
- It was the first match of a three-game series and kicked off the Magic Round.
- Controversial moment left football fans scratching their heads
New South Wales may be celebrating a big win in the opening match of the first three-match series in Brisbane, but one crucial moment could have made the result very different.
Football fans were left baffled after Blues five-eighth Corban Baxter appeared to avoid a penalty for colliding with the kicker’s leg in the opening exchanges of the Magic Round opener at Suncorp Stadium.
The incident came just days after Melbourne Storm and Queensland Maroons hooker Harry Grant faced sanctions for a similar, more minor offence.
New South Wales five-eighth Corban Baxter made contact with the leg of the Queensland kicker, but there was no penalty. She was later informed.
Melbourne Storm star Harry Grant was left baffled after referee Ashley Klein penalized him for grazing a kicker’s leg last Friday.
Early in the game, Baxter collided with the Maroons’ Zahara Temara after she kicked the ball, but no immediate action was taken by referee Kasey Badger or the Bunker.
Baxter was later reported for the collision, causing further confusion among fans.
This incident followed Grant’s recent conviction for minimal contact with a kicker, sparking debates about the application of the rules. The NRL judiciary found Grant’s contact posed a risk of injury, but was not careless.
The issue of illegal pressure on kickers has been prominent this season, with several players accused. Despite the injuries caused by such incidents, the league’s head of football denied any directive to crack down on the measure.
Harry Grant was condemned to the trash for less than Corban Baxter. Just sayin’,” one posted.
‘Refereeing is completely different from men’s football. You are sent off for attacking the leg of a kicker and a grinder. In this game they only inform you,” said another.
“It looks terrible for the game given the ‘player safety’ the NRL has been throwing at us all week,” another noted.
Blues coach Kylie Hilder downplayed the contact after the game.
‘I don’t think he was deliberately attacking the legs. “It was just an unfortunate situation,” Hilder said.
It proved to be a masterstroke for NSW to replace teenage sensation Jesse Southwell with veteran halfback Rachael Pearson.
The 30-year-old pulled off a bench throw that marked the start of NSW’s first-half dominance in front of 25,492 fans, the largest crowd ever to attend an Origin women’s match.
Jamie Chapman scored a sensational solo try to take the Blues’ early lead.
New South Wales won the first game of the series, which went to three games for the first time in Women’s Origin history.
Pearson continued to kick skillfully, showing few signs of the calf injury that had hampered her this month, and made a one-on-one try-saving tackle on Tarryn Aiken in the second half as Queensland returned to the game.
“I thought Rachael was exceptional,” NSW coach Kylie Hilder said.
Outstanding with 108 meters and two line breaks, Sky Blues prop Caitlan Johnston latched onto a short ball from Olivia Higgins and crashed in to end Queensland’s comeback with six minutes remaining.
The experienced Maroons looked clumsy from the start and had no response as the visitors moved the ball at breakneck speed.
“We knew we made some really crucial mistakes in the first half and that did us in,” Maroons coach Tahnee Norris said.
“If we can correct those crucial mistakes, I think it will change the game.”