NSWRL Junior Reps coaches and Origin players

Jayme Fressard has been waiting 10 years for an Origin call up but after finally earning her debut in next Thursday night’s series opener there was a further sacrifice the NSW winger had to make.

Fressard and Sydney Roosters team-mate Keeley Davis have spent this season coaching the club’s Lisa Fiaola and Tarsha Gale Cup teams, but the pair missed the preliminary finals of their respective NSWRL competitions as they were in Brisbane with the Blues.

Fressard coaches the Central Coast Roosters team in the U17s Lisa Fiaola Cup, while Davis has charge of the Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy team who play in the U19s Tarsha Gale Cup that she transitioned to NRLW from in 2018.

While only in her first year of coaching with the Sydney Roosters U19s Tarsha Gale Cup team, Davis has been tipped by Roosters and Westpac NSW Blues Women mentor John Strange as a future NRLW coach.

“It is obviously a bit bittersweet but there’s a few occasions I’ve had to miss games, so it’s been structured that way,” the Blues hooker said.

While Davis was able to leave her team in the capable hands of assistant coaches Corban Baxter and Melissa Spero, Fressard’s coaching staff are Blues captain Isabelle Kelly and fellow Origin debutant Jocelyn Kelleher.

After a decade of being on the verge of NSW selection, Fressard has finally earned a call up on the wing for the opening State of Origin at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

“I am so excited, this has been years in the making for me so I am absolutely honoured to be able to put on that Blues jersey next week,” she said.

“Back in 2016 I was 18th man and then in 2018 I did my ACL and that ruled me out for two years, just with the length of the surgery and my return.

“Since 2020 I have been in the training squad, so it’s been a battle but it hasn’t been something I have ever given up on.

"It has been a long-term goal of mine, so I am so honoured to have been given this jersey and especially getting that phone call off Strangey, it was very, very special.”

Davis has also had to fight for her position after initially being overlooked for the Australian team in last year’s Pacific Championships, with NSW rivals Quincy Dodd and Olivia Higgins favoured ahead of her.

An injury to Dodd led to a recall for Davis and she played in the Pacific Cup final against New Zealand but Higgins and Dodd were again preferred in March’s Vegas Test against England.

“I was super grateful when I got the call,” Davis said. “I feel like there was a lot of competition for the spot, so I really just tried to come to each session and do my best.”

At just 24-years-of-age, Davis still has a long playing career ahead of her but is already thinking about a move to coaching when she finishes playing.

“It’s the best, I absolutely love it, and I am so fortunate that the Roosters have allowed me to do that and that Strangey has encouraged me to do it,” she said.

“It’s been such a privilege, and I have been so blessed with the group of girls that I have got; they are all so lovely and just want to be better at footy and improve. I just love them so much and absolutely love coaching.

“I look forward to doing it every day and spending time on it is just so much fun. The connection you get with the girls is something I love as well, so hopefully I can keep doing bits and pieces as I keep playing and I can do it after footy, as well.”