The New South Wales Blues have dropped a major selection bombshell for the opening match of the 2024 State of Origin women’s series, with superstar outside back Tiana Penitani Gray set to make an unprecedented positional shift to the forward pack. The announcement, made by head coach John Strange at the iconic Sydney Opera House, has turned pre-series expectations on their head just one week out from kickoff in Newcastle.
Strange said the call to move Penitani Gray into the starting second row was anything but a gamble. The coach revealed it took just 13 minutes of an internal trial for him to be convinced that the versatile Sharks star, who has previously played wing, centre and five-eighth for NSW, had all the tools to excel in an unfamiliar forward role. Calling the selection a “no-brainer”, Strange pushed back on any criticism of his unorthodox approach to team selection, noting his eye for matching player attributes to untraditional positions has worked in the past.
“I know I look at football differently to most coaches and most people, but I just look at the physical attributes they’ve got and the mindset they have,” Strange explained. “If you sit down and put all those down on a list, she ticks every box to be an outstanding back-rower. We’ve seen her in the centres, she loves running lines, which is a courage thing that not everyone has. She’s also a great defender, a really good communicator – which you need in the back row to coordinate the middle and edge on defense – and she’s incredibly aggressive.”
Strange pointed to his successful conversion of former sevens winger Yasmin Meakes into a top-tier back-rower during his time coaching the Roosters as a precedent for the shift. “I did the same with Yasmin Meakes when I coached her at the Roosters,” he said. “I just said to her one day, ‘I’m going to put you in the back row because I think you’re going to be very good there because of those personal characteristics and a mindset’. Tiana, it’s a no-brainer for me. I think she’ll be outstanding there.”
To accommodate Penitani Gray’s promotion to the starting forward line, Strange moved veteran edge forward Kezie Apps to an interchange spot. He also passed over the chance to select his own daughter Jasmin, who participated in the squad’s six-week pre-series camp, in favour of the high-risk, high-reward move for Penitani Gray.
Another major feel-good story in the 17-person squad is the return of front-rower Millie Elliott, who is back in the Blues side 12 months after stepping away to give birth to her first child, Gigi. Elliott, who missed last year’s victorious series, has impressed throughout pre-selection camps, with NSW captain Isabelle Kelly revealing her fitness testing results are already identical to her pre-pregnancy levels.
Rounding out the squad is young speedster Teagan Berry, who will make her State of Origin debut off the interchange bench. Berry earned her call-up after a stellar NRLW season with the Dragons, where she notched a prolific try-scoring record to catch the selectors’ eyes. Aside from Penitani Gray’s positional shift, the squad remains largely settled, retaining most of the core group that secured a 2-1 series win over Queensland last year.
Kelly, who has played alongside Penitani Gray for years, has thrown her full support behind the positional experiment, saying the team’s vice-captain has all the qualities to thrive in the new role. “I think wherever ‘T’ plays, she’s incredible,” Kelly said. “I spoke to her as soon as the selection started… I just said, ‘Hey, big back-rower!’ There’s no one else I’d rather trust there. When you see the way T plays and how she can run the ball with the strength and the physicality that she has, it’s second to none. She’s a vice-captain to me and really helps me out with a lot of leadership skills, and I think when she plays, she showcases why she’s such a great leader. So no matter where that girl plays, she’ll always be incredible.”
Of Elliott’s return, Kelly added: “She’s insane. We had a few compulsory sessions for the Roosters leading back in the back end of last year when she started with a lot of testing, and I’m pretty sure her testing results were the same before she went away to have the baby, so she’s insane. I think Millie’s mindset is something that’s very unique. She’s able to push herself in the times that a lot of people can’t and finds those one-percenters to be better every single time. I think her hard work and how many minutes she can play at that intensity is something that can help us really out there. She’s going to be great, and she’s got that extra motivation now with Gigi and wanting to be performing at a high level as well to showcase to her when she’s eventually older what she can do.”
The first game of the 2024 State of Origin women’s series will kick off next Thursday in Newcastle, with the Blues looking to defend their 2023 title against a yet-to-be-announced Queensland side.