‘Physios will be busy’: $828m Origin issue rears its head as respected medico delivers verdict

NSW have survived brutal conditions in Sydney to win their first ever women’s State of Origin series with victory in Game 2 on Thursday night.

The Blues defeated the Maroons 26-6, scoring five tries to one as their forward pack and young halfback demolished Queensland.

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Queensland fullback Tamika Upton opened the scoring with a try but from then on it was all NSW as the Blues produced clinical football in torrential rain at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.

A crowd of 16,026 turned up to watch the match at Moore Park, where heavy rain began falling in the hours prior to kick-off.

The venue, which was renovated at the cost of $828 million, doesn’t appear to have the best drainage and puddles formed across the turf, turning the game into a gritty, slippery affair.

Nine commentator Peter Psaltis likened the Steeden to a “cake of soap”, while Gus Gould said NSW were playing smart football by opting to “kick it in the puddles”.

At halftime Blues forward Kezie Aps said: “Obviously it’s not the best conditions out here.

“So it’s just the team who completes the holds the ball and completes each set that I think is going to win the game today.”

In March, the Allianz Stadium surface came under fire for being below professional standard when players struggled to keep their feet in the Round 1 game between the Broncos and Roosters.

Judging by the women’s State of Origin game, the venue won’t be hosting eight games of football if the NRL’s Magic Round is ever held in Sydney.

Meanwhile, respected Roosters medico Ameer Ibrahim slammed the Allianz Stadium surface and called for it to be re-laid.

“Ground is atrocious,” Ibrahim wrote.

“Grass needs to ripped up and drainage improved. Physios will be busy.”

Victorious NSW captain Isabelle Kelly wasn’t phased by the wet conditions at Moore Park.

“I love this footy, I love playing at Allianz,” Kelly told Channel 9.

“This is obviously my home stadium and it feels like home. I think when we got here there was a sense of calmness about it being home and I’m just so proud.”

Reigning Dally M Medal winner Olivia Kernick was a force in NSW’s forward pack, racking up 236 run metres for the game.

A tough night got even worse for Queensland when Upton got sidestepped by her opposite number Jaime Chapman as the NSW flyer scored a trademark running try — using the wet conditions to slide over the tryline.

Gould said in commentary: “She’s a gazelle. As soon as they get her into open space, shut the gate.”

Upton immediately clutched at her leg and limped off with an apparent hamstring or hip injury in the second half, and played no further part of the game.

Halfback Jesse Southwell put on a kicking clinic, with the 20-year-old from Newcastle looking like a young Andrew Johns pulling the strings in a blue jersey.

“(The game plan) was hold the ball in this weather and kick well, which is my job,” Southwell told Nine.

“And just make sure that we can complete our sets and kick to a corner and keep them down there. We knew we would probably crack them in the end if we could hold on to the ball.”

Johns gave Southwell a phone call before the game to give the youngster a pep talk.

“When someone like Joey calls you the day of the game, you listen,” Southwell said.

“He said kick well, kick early and make sure that we complete our sets, especially in this weather.

“So everything he said I listened to and probably didn’t kick in early enough in that first half.

“Sorry Joey, but we got there in the end.”

It’s NSW’s fifth women’s State of Origin victory and their first victory since the showdown was changed from a stand-alone game to a three-match series.