Fuimaono carving own slice of family history

After falling in love with the sky blue jersey watching her brother play Under-20's, NSW five-eighth Taliah Fuimaono is carrying the Fuimaono surname back into the Origin arena.

Fuimaono did not follow State of Origin when she was young until her brother Tyrell was chosen for the NSW Under 20s team in 2014.

“My brother played a few junior Origins growing up, so me and mum would do whatever we could do go and watch him,” Fuimaono told NRL.com.

“We’d stay in backpackers, sleep three in a single room to go watch his origin game.

“My family wasn't a huge rugby league family so I sort of experienced Origin for the first time then and I remember the atmosphere was just insane. I fell in love with it, while he was playing and I really loved watching him.

“My passion for the game definitely grew as soon as I started seeing some of the girls I knew who were playing. I knew I want to be there, the thought of it gave me goose bumps.”

It was a whirlwind debut for the 24-year-old in Game One at CommBank Stadium, called into the starting side on game day to replace an injured Tiana Penitani.

But whether the Jillaroos playmaker was starting on the field or not, Tyrell was not missing her sister’s debut for the world.

“He's unfortunately going through quite a big surgery, so he actually only cleared himself so he could come out and watch,” Fuimaono said of Tyrell, who is contracted to the Dragons.

“He's been a big part of this and has been talking to the whole way.

"As soon as I found out I was going to be playing at centre, he was really good to talk through that with and gave me some tips. I had to jump over the barricade to see him because he couldn’t move.

“He’s had both of his hips replaced so I definitely played for him as well tonight. Hopefully he’ll be back on his feet soon.”

NSW coach Kylie Hilder has made big changes to her squad for the must-win Origin clash in Townsville after her side was defeated 18-10 in Game One.

With Tiana Penitani returning from a hamstring on the wing, Fuimaono has shifted to her preferred halves position alongside Jesse Southwell and the Indigenous All Star said her side will need to get their discipline in check and cut out the simple errors that cost them any chance of victory in Game I.

"We just really struggled to build momentum and build pressure because there were so many little errors and we just couldn't complete our sets and it kind of just killed us in the back end," Fuimaono said.

“But I’m very thankful it's a two-game series. I didn’t get to experience the one-game but I can’t imagine how much pressure that would have been.

“It was really nice to have the atmosphere that we did here, but I think that just makes us hungrier, knowing that we have all the support that we do.

“We felt like we were chasing points (Game One) and forcing things that we didn't need to.

“So the next game is really just about getting back to our structure and playing our game and not worrying about chasing points. Points should come off that.”