Maroons lick wounds and learn lessons from Game One loss

Queensland hope middle forwards Makenzie Weale and Keilee Joseph are cleared to play in the second State of Origin game in Brisbane on May 14 after both suffered head knocks in the 11-6 loss to NSW in the series-opener in Newcastle.

Weale landed on her head in a heavy tackle making the first run from the kick-off and took no further part in the game while Joseph, who was inspirational in her 44 minutes on the field, was taken off on the medicab in the 59th minute.

Maroons coach Nathan Cross said Weale and Joseph would be assessed by medical staff in the next few days but he hoped both would be passed fit to play at Suncorp Stadium. 

Joseph led Queensland’s tackle count at half-time and finished with 32 for the game. 

“That’s Keilee Joseph, she’s incredible,” Cross said. “She turns up inside the ball, she gets back behind the ball first to have a carry, and she does all the dirty work that most people in the crowd probably wouldn’t notice. 

“She’s a pleasure to coach and hopefully she’s right for Game Two.” 

The 24-year-old lock, who has signed a three-year contract with Parramatta after winning the NRLW premiership with Brisbane last year, almost scored a try about a minute before she was injured and replaced. 

Joseph appeared certain to touch down and break a 6-6 deadlock only to lose the ball over the line when tackled by Yasmin Meakes and Abbi Church. 

“I’ve played a lot of footy with Keilee and she was definitely sorely missed in our series last year,” Queensland captain Tamika Upton said. 

“So for her to come back and do what she did, she ties that middle up and makes my job easier at the back. I couldn’t be more proud of what those middles did, particularly under those circumstances in that first tackle.” 

Cross said the Maroons would lick their wounds and learn their lessons from the narrow loss to the Blues, who won in Newcastle for the first time after defeats in 2024 and 2025. 

“I’m extremely proud of the girls, so proud, and they tried really hard,” Cross said. “But it’s a loss. We came down here to win, we didn’t get that, and that’s hurting us. 

“Plenty to take away from it, but extremely disappointed.” 

Attention to detail, and executing those details under duress, will be the main areas Cross plans to work on with his players leading up to Game Two.

Queensland led 6-0 at half-time after prop Otesa Pule scored just two minutes after replacing Weale, then NSW levelled 10 minutes into the second half when Ellie Johnston charged over to score and Jesse Southwell converted. 

Handling errors at critical stages of the second half made it difficult for Queensland to mount any sustained attack, then they missed a chance to set up for a field goal after Southwell’s one-pointer gave the Blues a 7-6 lead eight minutes from full-time. 

“One thing that ‘Meeks’ (Upton) is really good at with this footy team is providing the clarity to the players as a conduit from the coaching staff to the playing group,” Cross said. 

“I feel like we trained really well for that, for the last seven days, and I just felt at times we could see that what we wanted to do would work but we just couldn’t execute it. 

“Obviously that comes from fatigue – having to get someone on after 10 seconds (Pule for Weale) is not what you plan on – but that’s no excuse. We missed a chance tonight but talking to ‘Meeks’, we can see where we can win it next time.”