NRL Hall of Famers Tahnee Norris and Tarsha Gale have joined a growing chorus calling for the women’s State of Origin to be moved to within the NRLW season after an error-riddled series which they claim is not a fair representation of the women’s game.

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Queensland captain Lauren Brown passionately called for change after the series conclusion, telling media “it’s crazy that our first footy for the year is meant to be the highest quality game of the year”.

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“I just think it’s unfair to the players and the product to expect us to be at our best quality of football when it’s our first game,” Brown added in the post-match press conference.

“In the NRL this would be their trial games, games one two and three, so I think the majority of the girls would love it to be intertwined into NRLW season.”

Hall of Famer and former Queensland coach Tahnee Norris agrees.

“It’s frustrating because it’s been years worth of trying to have these conversations with the NRL to get it pushed back at a time where these girls are actually playing the best football,” Norris told foxsports.com.au.

“It’s the number one game for women’s rugby league and the fastest game that you’ll see and the level of quality, but they’re coming off the back of nothing.”

The NRLW season doesn’t start until July, meaning the women hadn’t played a competitive match since the end of the previous season, some seven months prior.

The Jillaroos didn’t play at Vegas this year, giving many of the Blues and Maroons the biggest gap between games leading into an Origin series.

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The Fox Lab stats from the three games don’t make for pretty reading either.

There were more errors than points scored across the series with a combined 57 points compared with 66 errors.

Both sides finished with less than 75 per cent completion rates with the Blues finishing the series with 73.74 per cent and the Maroons just 65.96 per cent.

Game two of the series saw Queensland complete the equal fewest sets in the history of the women’s origin with just 19 and the combined errors of that game was the second highest in the Origin era (since 2018).

“It’s just wrong that they go in cold and are expected to play the best and the toughest game of the rugby league calendar without any match fitness,” Hall of Famer Tarsha Gale told foxsports.com.au.

“I think this year, while it was a great result for the Blues, they scored the least points in origin and the attacking flair just wasn’t there. I think match fitness has a lot to do with it, if we just move the girls origin into the NRLW season, I think we’ll get a better spectacle.”

The format of the series sees the women play stand alone matches in primetime on a Thursday, this year was a ratings high. It’s provided a fragile glass platform where the women’s game been handed the ultimate stage to showcase the players to a wider audience, but without the match fitness, it provided a false narrative on what the women’s game is like.

“This is our moment. This is where we get more eyeballs on the women’s game and we get more people converted over to watch the women. And I just think it’s a missed opportunity not performing at our best because we haven’t got match fitness,” said Gale.

“Look, the girls did a great job. I’m not saying they didn’t, but it wasn’t up to the standard that we were expecting.”

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For the past three years, the women have played one Origin match at Magic Round in Brisbane. Next year, however, because of the expanded NRL competition, the women will be moved to the Wednesday night and played in Townsville.

It’s a decision that should provide the catalyst to move the whole series into the NRLW season according to Norris.

“It’s massive, a massive weekend, you’d want to still be part of that for sure for womens’ rugby league, why would you pull it away?” she asked.

“The fact that it’s been at Magic round for the past couple of years and that the atmosphere and the amount of viewership in Brisbane for that weekend is massive, it’s huge and playing at Suncorp as well, the feel at Suncorp and being involved in that whole event is huge.

“I mean I love Townsville for the stadium and the people, but it’s just disappointing not to be a part of that particular weekend (in Brisbane) for sure.”

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Both Norris and Gale are calling for an extension of the NRLW for 2027 to include bye rounds and accommodate Origin within the season.

“My preference would be that the NRLW season would move to a one and a half rounds(16-17weeks from 11weeks home and away). If they don’t increase the teams, then it goes to one and a half rounds, so that you could actually select the first origin team off at least 3 games of NRLW and have bye rounds in and around the Origin matches,” said Norris.

“What about starting the women’s game, you know, maybe a month earlier?” said Gale.

“Playing six games, stopping for three weeks, and then playing another 6 games.”