It's a clean slate for Origin: Hilder

Harvey Norman NSW Sky Blues coach Kylie Hilder is heading into this year’s Ampol Women’s State of Origin series with a determined focus to wipe the past from the players’ minds.

Certainly, NSW winning the 2022 Origin stand-alone match in Canberra last June gives them a safety net in 2023 knowing they only need to win one of the two games scheduled this year to retain the shield.

“Obviously we won last year but I’m drumming into the players to forget about that,” Hilder said.

“It’s a clean slate and we’ll be taking the attitude - and preparing ourselves - knowing that we need to win both games.

“We won’t talk once about if it’s a drawn series that we’ll be keeping the shield,” she said.

“It's not an option for us because that’s not winning the series.”

Game One will be played 1 June at Sydney’s CommBank Stadium.

Game Two is on 22 June at Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

Long-standing Sky Blues centre Isabelle Kelly said players had earned the right to play in the 30,000-seat CommBank Stadium.

“Every Origin game we’ve had, we’ve broken records in terms of crowd numbers,” she said.

“It just shows how strong the fans feel about Origin and about women’s Rugby League in general.

“I love it that we get to play our home game at such a big stadium because it shows the respect being given to the women’s game.”

Seats are available from just $20 for adults and $40 for families, while juniors under 15 can enter free with a paying adult, via nrl.com/tickets