Jesse Southwell has vindicated the decision to bring her back into the Origin fold after helping steer New South Wales to a series win on Thursday night.
Southwell’s kicking game — both long and short — was a point of difference for the Blues, while she also came up with some Origin-style plays like scooping up a grubber and showing sheer strength to get back into the field of play.
It was the type of mature performance that could cement her spot in the No.7 jersey for years to come — 12 months after she was dropped from the NSW side.
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Southwell made her Origin debut as a teenager in 2023 but was left out of last year’s squad by former coach Kylie Hilder, who opted for Rachael Pearson instead.
But under a new Blues era led by new coach John Strange, Southwell was recalled and delivered on the high expectations that come with playing halfback.
The 20-year-old produced a statement game in the series opener with two try assists and three linebreak assists to steer NSW to a dominant win at Suncorp Stadium.
She backed it up on Thursday night, playing a key role in NSW’s 26-6 win to claim the series.
Blues skipper Isabelle Kelly had nothing but good things to say about the “unreal” Southwell who has commanded the respect of her peers.
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“She’s really come out of her shell this campaign and I think you can see that on the field now,” Kelly said.
“She’s so well-respected within our group and leads us around so well. We’ve got a lot of big names in our team but she steps up every time and makes sure we’re listening to her.
“I’ve loved seeing her growth and I knew under ‘Strangey’ that she was going to shine — she’s taken in everything he’s said.
“I’m really proud of her, I love playing next to her. Her attack is pretty incredible but you’ve got to look at her defence too — she’s one of the most solid halves in defence so I always feel really confident with her next to me.”
Strange brought fresh ideas to the coaching gig and completely rejigged the spine, replacing Emma Verran with Abbie Church and putting Keely Davis back in the starting hooker role.
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He also made the interesting call to move Tiana Penitani — a specialist outside back — to five-eighth and partnering her with Southwell.
It raised a few eyebrows ahead of game one but the call worked a treat, partly because of Southwell buying into the style of footy Strange wanted the Blues to play.
Southwell has already got two premierships with the Knights to her name but as Strange revealed she’s still very much in the development phase of her career.
And given she’s still nine months off turning 21, Strange believes we haven’t seen anywhere near Southwell’s best yet.
“I was watching her before she came into the NRLW,” he said of Southwell, who won a rugby sevens gold medal at the Commonwealth Games at just 17-years old.
“She’s athletically very good, she’s a strong runner, her passing skills are very good both ways, she’s got a really good kicking game so for me I just thought she’d be a great person to actually coach and then coach her into the style we wanted to play here to be the dominant half on the ball… I’m just really proud of how Jesse’s taken it all in.
“She’s asked questions of myself and even of the more senior girls in the whole six-week block. She just wanted to learn and be the best player that she could.
“She’s got a really high ceiling and I don’t think she’s reached it yet, which is exciting for NSW.”
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It was a dominant all-round performance for the Blues, who even lost two strike weapons in Jess Sergis (head knock/neck) and Jaime Chapman (cramping) in the second half.
They had two forwards make over 100 running metres and one just under, while the most metres a Queensland forward made was 54. NSW also missed a total of six tackles compared to Queensland’s 39.
It was stats like those — and their 100 per cent completion rate in the second half — that Strange was really impressed with.
“I know the result matters, that’s the industry we’re in, it’s results based but for me it’s always about how we played and that’s what I’m really proud of — all of the 17 girls and how they played more so than the win, if I’m being honest,” he said.
“They’re the things that I’m so proud of,” Strange added in reference to the completion rate.
“We didn’t just tuck the ball under the arm either, we wanted to play footy.
“We wanted to take it to Queensland, it wasn’t just about looking at the conditions and doing one-out hit-ups to a kick and hope for the best.
“It was ‘no, we’re still going to play footy’ and that’s why I’m so proud of the girls because they did that.
“They still played all their shapes and completed, we didn’t take our foot off the pedal in the second half, we played our footy in those conditions and then backed it up with defence.”
The Blues can now head to game three in Newcastle in a fortnight’s time knowing the series is wrapped up — not that Kelly has any plans to take her foot off the gas.
“I’m someone that likes to do it all the way to the end and I want to make sure we get that last win,” she said.
“I think we’re creating history and really showcasing how we play as the Blues. It’s taken us a few years to get to that… I want to make sure we get that win on home soil in Newcastle.”
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