‘Not a dead rubber’: Defiant Maroons prop warns Blues
Joel Gould |
Queensland denied NSW a 3-0 clean sweep last year in the third women’s State of Origin clash and prop Jessika Elliston is aiming to repeat the feat.
The Maroons will be without captain Tamika Upton, strike winger Julia Robinson and powerful forward Mackenzie Weale through injury for the showdown at Robina on Thursday night.
Last year the Maroons won 18-14 in the final match of the series to deny the Blues a whitewash.
Elliston is all fire and brimstone and she bristled when the words “dead rubber” were mentioned.
“It’s not going to be a dead rubber, that’s what it’s not going to be,” she said.
“We are coming into it determined. Going off last year, we were put in the same situation and this time we’re going to do the same thing
“We understand what we’re playing for and everything that goes into putting on this jersey and playing for Queensland.”
Gold Coast product Destiny Mino-Sinapati will make her debut at fullback while fellow debutant, North Queensland’s Yillian Yarrow, will come off the bench to stiffen the pack.
“Destiny, I’m so, so proud of her, obviously playing with her at Titans,” Elliston said.
“”In this camp she has just done everything right.
“At each step she deserves it so much. I thought she would be a bit nervous, but she’s absolutely going to kill it and we all back her.
“Same with Lilli, another prop coming through.”
Elliston is now one of the leading props in the game and she is backing her starting middle forwards – prop Otesa Pule and lock Keilee Joseph – to get the job done.
“I think our middles have actually been really strong against NSW. I don’t think we’ve taken a backward step at all really,” Elliston said.
“You have the likes of Keilee Joseph putting girls on their back most times, so I don’t think that’s really a worry for us so much through the middle.
“We’ll just do our job and compete and keep doing that.”
Elliston, who played in Brisbane’s 2020 NRLW grand final win, has found a home at the Titans and this week re-signed until the end of 2028.
“It is my home, it is my club,” she said.
“The way I feel about Titans can’t really be put into words.
“Previously we’ve had people question that sort of in a (social media) post, which is totally incorrect.
“I love the Titans so much.”
AAP