No half measure: Inside the tough call that won the Maroons the series

Down 1-0 in the series and needing to defeat the Sky Blues on home soil to keep her side's Origin dream alive, Maroons coach Tahnee Norris made one of the gutsiest calls in her coaching career.

After a disjointed attacking display at Suncorp Stadium in Game One, Norris made the decision to drop halfback and Maroons regular Zahara Temara, moving Ali Brigginshaw back into the halves alongside her former club teammate Tarryn Aiken.

It was a make-or-break moment for the Maroons, but one that was ultimately proved right and the difference in Queensland clinching the first ever three-game women's Origin series in front of another sold-out crowd in Townsville.

Temara featured as the 18th player for Games Two and Three and joined teammates on stage to lift the shield as vice captain, with Norris giving special praise for the 26-year-old's attitude in handling her omission from the team.

“It's such a hard role to play, you never know whether you are going to play or not and she is still very much our vice captain," Norris said.

"Her leadership off the field has just been next level. She has been outstanding in bringing the best out of the girls the whole camp.

“I'm really proud of her, she's grown so much as a footballer, but not only a footballer, as a leader as well. 

"I've coached her for such a long time, so I've seen her grow from a 17-year-old old kid all the way through now. It's like a proud mum moment, the way she has been throughout the past two camps in bringing out the best in these girls.

"I am really happy for her the way she's been."

After seeing that the combination of Brigginshaw in the forwards with herself in the halves wasn't working in Game One, Temara knew changes needed to be made, and said Norris made the right call in changing the side.

“Tahnee asked me how I thought Game One went and I was pretty honest that our three-half system didn't work," Temara reflected.

"We're all very dominant players and it's not a bad thing – it's the strength of each and every one of us – but for that game, it didn't work.

“A lot of things went wrong in that game and it wasn’t just us, but that was something that I could tell needed to change and she could tell obviously as well and it just worked out that way.

It was hard to not play, but it was easy to just put the team first.

Maroons playmaker Zahara Temara

“I had to have a look at myself and I could have chosen one or two paths to go and although it was hard, I had to look at what type of person I wanted to be and look at my values.

"I didn’t want the girls to walk away without the trophy and if I could have any influence on the girls winning the series, I would do whatever I could."

The pair - who previously played together at the Broncos - gelled well in tough conditions in Newcastle to emerge with a hard-fought one-point win, before showing their class and composure to guide the Maroons to victory on home soil in Townsville.

Aiken – who bounced back from a self-described poor first game to score a game-changing try in Newcastle and contributed with two try assists in the decider – said her combination with Brigginshaw continued to get better as the series went on.

“We changed the game plan up and started to work better in Game Two, and then in Game Three it worked out really well," Aiken said.

"We just kept building each game. Our spine had a fair few chats about how we want to play and in Game Two and Three, we just kept improving together.

“I just got more confident as we kept playing.

“It was definitely a hard call [to drop Temara]. Zee is so important to this team, and she's been unreal the whole series and credit to her, she helped us so much.

“But Ali was unreal playing halfback, she took control and I think it, really freed me and Meeks [Tamika Upton] up to play our game. It's a tough one, but I think Ali was unreal and we don't win without her there in the seven.”

Like Temara, Brigginshaw is one who will play whatever role required by her coach and her team, but was open with preference to play at halfback and thought the way she was able to combine with Aiken would continue to flourish into the future.

“We've played together for quite a few years now, but I think we're just starting to click; we're finding our rhythm and she's a great talent,” Brigginshaw said.

“I just do the boring stuff and she gets to do the fancy stuff, but that's what we used to do. I did that with Murph [Karyn Murphy] for many, many years, just followed her line and now I get to do it with Tarryn.

“She's maturing each game she plays and I absolutely love the way she plays footy, but tonight she just showed her maturity.”