While the odds may be stacked against them, Queensland forward Sienna Lofipo is backing her "bestie" Destiny Mino-Sinapati to thrive in her State of Origin debut.
Named to make her maiden Maroons appearance at fullback, Mino-Sinapati has big shoes to fill, taking on the role from injured skipper and NRLW superstar Tamika Upton.
But having played with her for many seasons in junior representatives teams, for Samoa in Tests and for their club team the Gold Coast Titans, Lofipo said the talented back deserved her opportunity and would thrive.
“I'm over the moon for Destiny, my bestie Destiny." Lofipo told NRL.com.
“We have played every bit of football together since she started.
“We started at Titans together in the juniors and then worked our way up and now we're both here.
“Watching her debut is pretty special. I get emotional talking about it because it's so awesome and she deserves it a lot and I'm excited to see her out there.
“(The skills she will bring are) her hard work, her determination.
"She's very competitive, she's a go-getter and she's very agile, very elusive.
“She's very quick, so she'll be a great asset to our team."
Coach Nathan Cross backed her to be herself after working on her confidence during the week in camp.
"I think she has a few extra nerves around playing fullback as opposed to playing wing, but I think our coaches in particular have done a great job this week of instilling the confidence in her and the role clarity to go out and back your ability and most importantly, have a really good night and enjoy yourself," Cross said.
"Definitely (helps to have a) familiar environment (playing at Cbus Super Stadium), they play here week-in, week-out for the Titans.
"I think familiarity sometimes gives you that comfort that you've done it before ... and we know she'll do a great job.
"She has played in the Queensland Under 19 team a number of years ago with Sienna and Chantay (Kiria-Ratu), they had good success there and I watched her development closely at the Gold Coast Titans, albeit mostly playing on the wing.
"She's probably a female version of like a Keano Kini; she bounces around, she's full of energy. She runs a heap of metres, she's always on the ball.
"But most importantly, she's a very coachable young lady and her attitude is without question.
"If you ask her to go and walk up to the tallest seat here and jump off it, I'm sure she would for Queensland."
Another player named to make her debut is for Lillian Yarrow, who has made the move from the North Queensland Cowboys for the 2026 NRLW season.
Speaking to NRL.com when she was part of the extended squad and taking part in the pre-series campaign, Yarrow was excited to be on the cusp of a dream come true debut.
"I actually got goosebumps, I was stoked," Yarrow said of her initial inclusion in the squad.
"I rang Dad and I was like, 'you wouldn't believe it, I'm in the extended squad', and he said 'oh, that's so good, well, you have just got to rip in and work hard', and I was like 'yep, thanks, Dad, got it, good advice!'
"Honestly, I didn't have any expectation, I didn't even expect to be here in the first place ... but I had a meeting with Crossy and said 'I'm just here to learn and soak up as much as I can and get a feel for what it's like professional level and and all that'.
"And then I said 'but if you give me a chance, I will be do or die, I will bleed for this jersey' and you can see the buy-in from the group, it is very do or die."
Inside Camp: Nathan Cross
With home support behind them, including the Gold Coast Titans NRLW side finishing training early to get to the stadium in time to support their state team, Cross was hoping his side could show their style of football.
"No-one wants to be part of a clean sweep, and if I look at the first two games - and I've said it on record - Game One, we missed a chance, but with 30 seconds to go, we were still a fighting chance, down by a point.
"Game Two, 30 seconds to go, we nearly score in the corner and and snatch it late.
"So, history will show we're down 2-0, but it's a struck match between both teams in both games, and we feel like we let ourselves down in Game Two.
"I feel like we beat ourselves.
"Potentially, there's some complacency from New South Wales if they see that Tamika Upton and Julia Robinson aren't playing, and look, we're treating this without any pressure.
"I want our young debutantes, our young players to go out there, play to their best ability, enjoy themselves, but most importantly, play with the shackles off.
"Go and play some footy.
"If you do that and you play with the shackles off, you get a bit of reward for effort and don't play worrying about a 3-0 whitewash.
"Play with the full intent, knowing that you might actually win a game of footy here and then finish the series on a high."
Match: Maroons v Blues Women
Game 3 -
home Team
Maroons
away Team
Blues Women
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
- Get your tickets HERE!
Tickets available from $20 for Adults, $10 for kids and $40 for families.
