In the days, then hours, leading up to her State of Origin debut at McDonald Jones Stadium on Thursday night, Queensland prop Otesa Pule visualised multiple scenarios in her head.
Even the one that eventuated as she settled into her seat on the bench for kick-off in the Origin series-opener, won 11-6 by NSW.
The 22-year-old Sydney Roosters front-rower saw team-mate Makenzie Weale make the first run of the game only to hit her head on the ground when driven backwards in a NSW gang tackle.
Otesa Pule Try
Weale struggled to her feet, was helped off the field by medical staff and failed a head injury assessment, earning Pule a much earlier than anticipated call to arms.
“I just looked up and saw one of our teammates was down and thought, ‘this is me, this is my time to go out there and give my everything for Queensland’, so I went out and did that,” Pule told NRL.com.
“To be honest, I prepare myself for anything, because anything can happen in this game, especially in Origin. You only get one chance to do this in your first game, because it’s a three-game series and you want to play your best to make the next game.”
About two minutes after replacing Weale, Pule took a pass from dummy-half Jada Ferguson and crashed over from close range to score a try under the posts, giving the Maroons an unexpected 6-0 lead after Lauren Brown’s conversion.
“I looked up and Fergie was giving me the eyes, to go middle post,” Pule explained.
“I just saw a fullback (Abbi Church) there and thought, ‘I’m going to go run them over’, so yeah, that’s what I did.”
One of four Queensland debutants, alongside five-eighth Chantay Kiria-Ratu and outside backs Phoenix-Raine Hippi and Ivana Lolesio, Pule ran for 106 metres, made four tackle breaks and 30 tackles in her 50 minutes in the middle.
A Kiria-Ratu bomb causes early problems
“I feel like we all did our jobs out there, and we all played our roles, so I think we all did good,” she said.
As NSW desperately defended a 7-6 lead in the final minutes, Pule went close to scoring what would have been a match-winning second try after Ferguson was tackled short of the line on the previous tackle.
But the ball went loose when Pule was tackled in the shadows of the posts, NSW regained possession and went on to seal the game with a Jess Sergis try as the final siren sounded.
From the field: Tamika Upton
“We were in it,” Pule said, looking ahead to Game Two at Suncorp Stadium on May 14.
“We were in this game the whole time, so yeah, our next game, we’ll be ready to go get that win in Brissie.”
Queensland coach Nathan Cross said Pule played as well as he expected she would, and anticipated her playing a similar role in Brisbane on May 14 and the Gold Coast on May 28.
“That’s why we brought her in. I knew she would do that. It didn’t surprise me one bit tonight,” Cross said.
“I think she’s probably the best carrier of the footy in the NRLW and I think she showed that tonight.
“She’s really bought into our Maroon DNA and I’m extremely excited for the future for her, and I think she showed everyone tonight what it means to her to play for Queensland, so yeah, a big future.”
Cross said losing Weale in the opening seconds and lock Keilee Joseph 11 minutes from full-time, also to concussion, significantly affected his interchange rotations.
“What do they say? You plan for the worst and hope for the best, and that’s what we did today ... and that’s difficult,” Cross said.
“You certainly don’t plan for the first tackle of the game, then Keilee Joseph said to me at half-time, as soon as she saw Makenzie go off, she knew she was going to have to play the whole first half.
“That’s tough, but Keils is an amazing footballer and she did a great job, but it throws everything out the window and you’ve got to front-load your interchanges and hope at the end that you can hang on.
“But the girls were so brave, and we just couldn’t quite get it done tonight.”
Brill all effort
Maroons captain Tamika Upton praised the efforts of Pule and all their Origin first-timers.
“That’s what Origin is all about, and we spoke about that,” Upton said.
“It’s bringing the best out of everyone, backing your ability, and for her to come in, first game of State of Origin and do that, it’s not surprising to her team-mates.
“It’s very impressive ... I couldn’t be more proud of our debutants out there.”
Here comes Upton
Upton said Hippi, playing on the right wing, did particularly well defusing bombs launched by NSW halves Jesse Southwell and Jocelyn Kelleher.
“It was horrors under those high balls, for both sides. There was no wind, it was very still out there, so those balls were just sitting right up there, but Phoenix handled our own.
“She’s a natural talent. She’s probably the most interesting footballer in the NRLW – fully natural, fully footy instincts, and she’s got a bright future ahead of her.”
