- New South Wales have won the 2025 Women’s State of Origin Series
- Dally M winner Olivia Kernick starred to help seal the victory
New South Wales have enacted revenge on Queensland by winning the 2025 Women’s State of Origin Series with a game to spare, following a 26-6 victory at the Allianz Stadium.
After being trumped 2-1 by the Maroons in 2024, the Blues backed up their victory in Brisbane with a dominant performance, despite conceding an and slightly bizarre try, scored by Brisbane Broncos full-back Tamika Upton.
The horrendous, torrential conditions appeared to wreak havoc from the off with reigning Dally M medallist Olivia Kernick being left baffled by an early decision from the officials.
She appeared to fail to control a cutely weighted grubber kick from Lauren Brown into the Blue’s in-goal area.
The ball bobbled and Kenrick fell onto it but it slipped out of her control with Upton reacting quickly to touch down for the Marooons.
Kernick claimed she had grounded the ball for a drop out but match officials said she had been trying to gather it, rather than ground it and allowed the try to stand.
The Roosters star was left fuming and asked referee Belinda Sharpe: ‘Are you kidding?!’
Despite that, the Blues would go on to dominate in the first half, with tempers flaring just before half-time.
Kernick, who had been controversially overlooked from the Jillaroos Test team after winning the 2024 Dally M medal, more than made up for the early error, scoring twice and setting up another on Thursday to inflict more misery on the Maroons in game two in front of 16,026 fans.
After the Blues opened the series with a 32-12 win over Queensland in Brisbane, John Strange’s side can look to seal a 3-0 whitewash in the game-three dead rubber at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium on May 29.
Kernick came to the fore leading from the front, clocking up a game-high 169 metres and, while her night didn’t get off to a great start, she more than made amends.
The lock forward picked her moments for revenge and when she struck she did with both power and panache.
First she set up an on-rushing Simaima Taufa, who ran a sharp line and bumped off a host of covering Maroons to draw the Blues level.
Then Kernick went herself, crashing through three tackles and palming off Upton to score under the posts to give NSW a 12-6 halftime lead.
Tempers had flared just before half-time after Queensland star Chelsea Lenarduzzi had looked to make a mistake, with Kennedy Cherrington appearing to get in her face over the error.
A frosty mele ensued as both sets of players rushed into the brawl but tempers quickly settled, with referee, Sharpe, calling on both captains to tell their players to calm down.
Halfback Jesse Southwell was a major reason the Blues were able to turn the screw in the second half.
The playmaker trapped Queensland in-goal with a crossfield kick early in the stanza and off the ensuing set Southwell’s cutout was the catalyst for winger Jayme Fressard to score in the corner.
Then the Blues other winger Jaime Chapman breezed in on the right flank to put NSW on the brink of a series crown.
Any chance Queensland had of clawing their way back into the game evaporated when Upton hobbled off.
The fullback tried to play on after suffering a hamstring injury as she came across to prevent Chapman’s try but eventually succumbed to the pain.
Kernick then crashed in for her second try during with eight minutes left to put the game beyond Queensland’s reach.
