There will be plenty of nerves at Lang Park ahead of tonight's State of Origin decider — and we're not just talking about the men.
The inaugural under-18 Queensland Schoolgirls team will take to the field in a history-making game against a combined New South Wales-ACT side in the curtain-raiser to the 2022 State of Origin decider.
One of those is Sunshine Coast teenager Nancy Sullivan.
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains references to a person who has died.
Nancy was 10 when she took to a footy field for the first time.
Seven years later she's playing rugby league for her state and vying for a spot on the Australian team.
She could be the next big talent to have started her footy career in the small Queensland community of Cherbourg, like Maroons player Selwyn Cobbo.
Based on the Sunshine Coast, Nancy said playing rugby league was "natural" after spending years tossing the ball and tackling in the backyard with cousins and uncles.
Nancy says her worries dissipate on the footy field and "I just play", once she has overcome the initial nerves and the first tackle is out of the way.
To mitigate those nerves at what will be the biggest game of her career so far, she will have the names of family members who have passed written on strapping tape around her wrist.
And she has asked her dad, Kenneth Sullivan, to paint her boots.
"It tells a story and I'm proud of my culture and it's like I'm playing for my culture," she says.
Fierce love for family
Nancy, the eldest of seven children ranging in age from 17 to 15 months, has a fierce and unapologetic love for her brothers, sisters, and parents.
"Mum and Dad don't know this but I look through my phone with the photos of all of them."
The teen does mostly 16-hour days — she gets up at 5am, trains six days a week, is in the last few months of year 12, and is the Murri and Islander leader at Nambour State College.
In her downtime, she can be found "helping Mum around home with my siblings and just doing what normal kids do".
Impeccable time management ensures she regularly attends school, hands assessments are in on time, works on weekends and plays for two local football clubs — all while being a role model to her siblings.
It's that level of dedication that has mum Loretta Chambers bursting with pride.
"I always have my cries — happy tears."
A first for state, national opportunities
The inaugural Queensland Schoolgirls team has spent the past few days training and bonding in Brisbane ahead of tonight's game that will be streamed at 5:45pm from Lang Park.
The girls' game comes at a time when schoolboys rugby league celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Team manager Shane Hammond says it is a "massive opportunity and honour" for the 19 young women who are aged 16 to 18.
"For the very first time, our girls have been given the opportunity to actually play a game and no longer be a merit team.
One of those is the chance to be selected in the inaugural Australian Schoolgirls team, which Mr Hammond says may play their counterparts in Fiji.
"Unlike the boys, there's no national championships for the girls so as this age group has come through under 12s, under 15s and now into under 18s, there's only ever been merit teams named at each age group," he says.
Mr Hammond says Queensland's NRL clubs have sponsored the camp to help mitigate costs for the girls, many of whom have travelled from rural and regional areas.
Like many of the girls, Nancy is one of those who hopes to be selected in the inaugural Australian team.
Earlier this month she was one of a handful of girls invited to join the Broncos Girls Academy.
Shocked but grateful, she says the opportunity was a foot in the door to progressing her career.
"I'm proud of myself for what I have achieved and, being the eldest of seven, I want to show my siblings you can do anything if you put your mind to it."
