Bombs away: Blues put Upton on notice

Jocelyn Kelleher has warned Maroons superstar Tamika Upton that she will again be tested under the high ball as NSW seek to secure back-to-back Origin series wins at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

Kelleher, who made her starting debut in the halves alongside Jesse Southwell in NSW’s 11-6 win at McDonald Jones Stadium two weeks ago, terrorised Upton with a series of spiralling torpedo kicks.

Widely considered the game’s best player, Upton made three handling errors as Kelleher and the Blues kick chasers put her under enormous pressure and the NSW game plan is unlikely to change in Origin II.

“I chucked up a couple of pretty good torpies, and I felt bad for Meeks out the back there, but she did so know well and we only got a result off a couple of them,” Kelleher said.

“Anything to make her a little bit unsure. With a player of her calibre, just even to make her hesitate a little bit is a win for me.

“They're my favourite types of kicks, so I like to chuck them up even when they're not necessary.

“They were pretty ugly, so I did feel bad for her, but they were coming off the boot really well in the game and credit to the girls for giving that massive kick chase and putting pressure on her to actually catch them.”

After making her Origin debut on the interchange last season, Kelleher had set herself a goal of winning a position in the NSW halves for this year’s series.

However, the Sydney Roosters utility, who is set to play halfback this season after 2024 Golden Boot winner Tarryn Aiken suffered an ACL injury, was worried she hadn’t done enough to convince Blues coach John Strange she deserved the spot.

“That was one of my goals for the year and it is written on my mirror at home so when I went home after the game in Newcastle I ticked that off, which was really exciting,” Kelleher said.

“There are a couple of others that will stay secret until they come true, I suppose, but that was a big one. To get Strangey to trust me with that, it's very big for me.

“After the first trial, we had a really tough but truthful conversation and he said that I wasn't where I needed to be, so I needed to prove myself in that second trial. I think I did that in the last trial, and Strangey gave me that jersey.”

Kelleher grew up playing almost every sport except league and was spotted by Strange while watching his daughter Jasmin – a member of the extended NSW squad - in an Australian rules match on the Central Coast.

The 26-year-old’s kicking game impressed Strange and he has helped her develop it at the Roosters.

“A big part of my game and one of my strengths is my kicking,” Kelleher said. “I grew up playing soccer and AFL, so I've really tried to carry that over and I think it worked out well for me in Game I.

“There's a lot of times before training where Strangey and a couple of the other girls, like Keeley Davis, will all get out there and just crack torpies at our backs. We put them under a lot of pressure. It’s good fun.”

With Maroons five-eighth Chantay Kiria-Ratu almost as effective with her left boot in Origin I, many observers have noted the development of the kicking game in women’s rugby league since the introduction of the NRLW in 2017.

Kelleher, who didn’t start playing until she was 20-years-of-age, said the crop of talent set to make their way into the NRLW in coming years will be even better.

“The kicking game has come a long way, and I've been trying to work with the pathways girls to develop it from a young age for them,” she said.

“I never had that chance to play rugby league when I was young, so I'm doing everything I can to help these young girls. I'm with Roosters’ Lisa Fiaola Cup team and there's some really good girls coming through there.

“We go to training and it's just so much fun. They're a bunch of characters, but they're also really tough and hard, resilient footy players, and when they come through, with their talent, the game is going to go to the next level.

“The younger girls coming through are always pushing us. They can they start playing from six years-of-age now, so those girls coming through could have 10 or more years of actual more rugby league games than I had so the game is just going to get better and better.”