'Never kicked a field goal': Jesse's shock revelation after match-winner
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NSW halfback Jesse Southwell has revealed she spent hours during the past week preparing for the match-winning field goal that delivered the Blues a one-nil Origin series lead.
The Newcastle product stood tall to land a 62nd-minute field goal to put her side up 7-6 before helping set up a Jess Sergis try in the final play of the game to secure a 11-6 victory in front of more than 20,000 fans at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Southwell puts the Blues in front
The kick came just a couple of minutes after Southwell had a shot charged down, however the 21-year-old showed remarkable composure to prevent any doubts creeping into her head.
In doing so, she highlighted why she is considered one of the brightest young stars in the game and reinforced NSW coach John Strange's faith in Southwell's ability to steer the Blues to a second-straight series victory.
The high-pressure kick was the perfect moment for the halfback to land her first field goal in a competitive match and was the culmination of hours of practice on the training paddock.
"I’ve never kicked a field goal in a real game before," Southwell said.
"It was a good time to start. You practice them all the time, so you know what’s coming.
"You can put that kind of pressure on yourself at training – six-all, in a State of Origin game, minute to go, you have to get it to win – you put that in your brain when you kick it at training. You put yourself through those stages in practice."
Match: Blues Women v Maroons
Game 1 -
home Team
Blues Women
away Team
Maroons
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
While keen to soak up Thursday's victory, the Blues have already turned their focus to closing out the series in Game Two at Suncorp Stadium.
The opening clash of the series was a hard-fought grind, with points hard to come by at McDonald Jones Stadium.
While Queensland had the upper hand early, the Blues took control of the contest midway through the first half and largely controlled the second.
The Maroons defence was resolute to repeatedly deny their opponents before Ellie Johnston eventually crashed over to level the scores.
Ellie Johnston Try
While thrilled with the victory, Southwell recognises her side must take another step forward if they are to topple a desperate Queensland side on their home turf.
"We knew at halftime that we were actually on top," Southwell said. "The scoreboard didn’t show that, but we knew we were on top. The coaching staff had a lot of faith in us, the group had a lot of faith in each other. We know what we can do, we just had to stay in the grind.
"We have a lot to improve on. Personally, as the half, there’s a lot I can clean up. But that’s our first game of the year, our first hit out. Everyone wanted a three-game series and we’ve got it, so there’s a lot of improvement to come."
Thursday's match marked both a homecoming and farewell for the NSW halfback, who has left the Knights to join the Broncos for the upcoming NRLW season.
Southwell has been travelling between Newcastle and Brisbane for the past few months but will pack her bags and make the move north on Sunday.
The two teams will face off at Totally Workwear Stadium this year, meaning the youngster won't have another chance to play at McDonald Jones Stadium in the 2026 regular season.
From the field: Jesse Southwell
While excited for the challenge of joining a new club, Southwell's short-term focus is on closing out the series with the Blues.
"I'm really looking forward to it but at the moment I'm just focusing on the Blues," she said. "I'm learning all I can from all the girls here.
"We've got some amazing athletes here and Strangey's a world-class coach so I'm soaking in everything I can learn from this Blues space first."
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