Yasmin Clydsdale knows she's one step closer to living out a dream of clinching Origin on home soil, with the image of lifting the shield in front of her family burning strong in the mind of the Newcastle star.
With a voracious crowd awaiting the Sky Blues, Newcastle forward Clydsdale – who starred in the first game with player of the match honours – said her side had lots to work on in order to claim an unassailable 2-0 lead, but knew the crowd of McDonald Jones Stadium will get behind her and the team as they do each week in the NRLW.
“I'm really looking forward it – it's been a dream to be able to play Origin in Newcastle and in front of a home crowd, in front of my family.
“There's a massive buzz which I'm super excited for. I think Newcastle's a rugby league town and it'll really get behind the women's rugby league.
“It was pretty impressive and cool to come up to Suncorp, such an iconic stadium and get the win over them. They were so loud – they were aggressive and when Queensland scored you could really hear the crowd, but I think we kept them quiet.
“It was a really intense game, we wanted to come out firing and I think we did that, but we've still got a lot to improve on moving forward and we've got two games to do that, which is super exciting to have the three games," she said.
"It was daunting being the underdogs, but I love that."
The lead up to Game One had been dominated by question marks about the preparation of New South Wales, with most players having not taken part in competitive matches compared to their Queensland counterparts.
Match: Sky Blues v Maroons
Game 2 -
home Team
Sky Blues
away Team
Maroons
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
However, having dominated the Maroons out of the blocks, Clydsdale backed her side's work in competitive training camps in the lead-up to set the standard and have her team ready for the blockbuster series opener.
“I think we were well conditioned for the the match because we did so much conditioning," Clydsdale said.
“We had internal games as well and because we've had so much depth in our New South Wales squad, everyone was fighting for positions so those games were really intense and replicated what Origin would be like.
“Kylie [Hilder] did really well... and I think that actually it worked in our favour.
“We did so well in the first half and really silenced the crowd, but we probably just need to work on to holding on to that in intensity and being able to finish the game solid."
