Townsville to welcome women’s State of Origin

Fraser Barton | April 26, 2023

With his North Queensland side to kick-off their first NRLW campaign in 2023, coach Ben Jeffries says Townsville can become a permanent home for the newly expanded women’s State of Origin.

The first-ever two match State of Origin series for the women’s game will be held at Sydney’s Commbank Stadium and the Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville, the NRL announced on Wednesday.

The far north Queensland city hosted the first-ever regional men’s State of Origin match in 2021, when NSW thumped Queensland 50-6 before going on to win the series 2-1.

This year, the women’s series will head north following Origin I in Sydney on June 1, with the decider to take place in Townsville three weeks later.

The 2023 NRLW season will kick off on the weekend of July 22-23.

Cowboys coach Jeffries is delighted Origin will be heading to Townsville. 

“(They) just live and breathe rugby league (up here),” he said. 

“I can’t speak highly enough of the fans, from what I’ve seen in the male game, and it’s going to flow into the female game.

“It’s going to be a huge boost for the region.”

Early indications suggest the fixture could inject $2 million into the local economy following the success of Townsville’s hosting of men’s Origin 1 in 2021.

Local MP Scott Stewart said it is a chance to cement the women’s series in north Queensland for years to come.

“This is a great opportunity to really centre women’s Origin right here in north Queensland as the hub,” he said on Wednesday.

“It’s about the opportunities for those young girls to meet the players, to meet the stars.

“You can’t be what you can’t see, so being able to get these young girls to see these great players – this is what’s going to build this fantastic sport.”

First played in 1999 as the Women’s Interstate Challenge – with Queensland winning the first 16 editions – two matches were contested in the 2004 and 2008 seasons.

The game came under the State of Origin umbrella in 2018, with NSW winning three of the five matches since the series was rebranded, including in 2022.