KIERSTEN DUKE: Maroons captain Ali Brigginshaw faces tough task in turning around Queensland’s Origin fortunes

The Maroons need to embrace the mantra that the best form of attack is defence if they are to reverse their fortunes and keep the women’s State of Origin series alive.

More eyes than ever before have been on women’s sport and Game I proved this with over two million Australians tuning in to watch NSW win the match 32-12 as they look to take back the Origin Shield.

The figures are solid proof of the continued growing interest in women’s rugby league and I have a sneaky feeling that sooner or later the fans will get what they want and see the women’s game extended from 70 minutes to 80 minutes like the men.

Game I was dominated by the Blues. Jess Sergis scored a try in her 10th Origin appearance and captain Isabelle Kelly was the player of the match with a try, two try assists and over 100m run.

The youngsters didn’t allow their more experienced teammates to take all the glory though. Three of the four debutants claimed tries of their own — an impressive effort under the mammoth pressure of the Suncorp Stadium crowd.

Usually known for their sharp, precise play, Queensland were disappointing.

We expected all the girls to look a little disjointed during the first few minutes of the game considering those who play for Australia hadn’t played since Las Vegas in February and for others they last laced up their boots in the NRLW finals last year.

But while the Blues were able to find their groove the Maroons continued to lack connection.

While the usual suspects Tarryn Aitkin and Temika Upton were strong, it simply wasn’t enough.

So what needs to improve for Game II? It’s in Sydney and the Blues will have home ground advantage, but I have no doubt that after losing at home, Queensland will be more revved up than ever to get revenge.

In attack, Queensland looked strong but they simply had too many defensive errors.

Hooker Lauren Brown is usually one of the most reliable players in the competition.

She thrives in high pressure environments as we saw in the final game of last year’s Origin series when she kicked an unbelievable winning field goal.

But this year it was a very different story, she missed six tackles and the Blues defence were all over her.

I’m expecting her to have her spark back next week. Maybe booting the footy into a sprinkler in the sheds pre-game was an unfortunate omen of how things would pan out.

Maroons captain Ali Brigginshaw also looked to have less impact than usual. She is normally a dominant, solid player but she seemed to lack punch on Thursday night.

I think we’ll be seeing a much louder version of her in Game II to ensure her team performs at its best.

And speaking of being loud. How about NSW’s Keeley Davis making a complaint to the referee just 16 minutes into the game regarding an alleged eye-gouge. It was a very serious allegation to make so I’m expecting plenty of spice in next week’s game off the back of that drama after she decided not to press the complaint post game.

As for the Blues I’m very keen to see the veterans continue to lead the way and instil confidence in the younger members.

The old guard were outstanding in Game I.

Kezie Apps and Yasmin Clydsdale put in powerhouse performances which encouraged young guns like Ellie Johnston to embrace their strength and get over the try line.

NSW also looked very happy to be out there.

They looked more in sync and confident than I expected, and I hope that with the backing of a home crowd they can seal the deal in Game II.