Newly installed Queensland women’s coach Nathan Cross has unlocked a selection process he believes will give the Maroons their best shot yet at Origin redemption.

Ahead of the Women’s State of Origin series opener on April 30, Queensland has borrowed from the winning NSW playbook in establishing a six-week selection camp to offer a better gauge of player form in 2026.

Until now, the current structure of the NRLW season has forced selectors to pick players based on their form more than six months earlier, since Womens State of Origin precedes regular season matches.

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Run weekly over a Friday and Saturday, the camps have given Queensland selectors full confidence in naming their best side on Monday ahead of the series opener at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium – where they will look to reverse the Blues’ recent dominance.

“When the QRL reached out to me to throw my hat in the ring to take over from the coaching, they asked how the preparation would look,” Cross told foxsports.com.au.

“Queensland is very different to NSW in terms of the geographical challenges of the players; they train three days a week together and I just can’t do that. So I came up with a plan to bring the girls in Friday afternoon, focus on the connection piece, do a light Friday session and make Saturday mornings your bulk session before getting them home after lunch on Saturday to enjoy their weekend.”

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Nathan Cross has been appointed Harvey Norman Maroons head coach. Picture: QRL MediaSource: News Corp Australia

Queensland hosted the six-week training block at the Australian Catholic University in Brisbane, which has opened up its full suite of training and recovery facilities. Cross has also employed the services of esteemed sports psychologist Dr Jo Lukins to extract the best from his squad and ideate the legendary Queenslander spirit.

What originally began with a squad of 34 Maroons players has been cut to 23 at the time of writing, with Cross to make a final call on his 20-woman outfit following an opposed session against the Redcliffe women’s Queensland Cup side on Friday.

With most NRLW players still working regular jobs, the QRL and Rugby League Players Association have assisted in ensuring Queensland players are fairly compensated when attending the camps. NRLW clubs have also helped manage individual workloads between club sessions and weekend Origin sessions.

“It was the best way of giving ourselves some form of preparation similar to NSW, even with the geographical challenges,” Cross said.

“We’ve got players from Sydney, Canberra, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns – so that’s what I came up with.”

Queensland and NSW are evenly poised with four series wins apiece since Womens State of Origin took over from the former Interstate Challenge in 2018.

NSW are aiming to secure consecutive Origin series wins in 2026, having wrapped up last year’s title in the opening two matches.

They will take on a QLD side that won’t include longstanding captain Ali Brigginshaw, following her Origin retirement in 2025. Star playmaker Tarryn Aiken will also sit out the series after rupturing her ACL a week before last year’s NRLW finals series.

“It’s a new era, and as the coach I don’t want to overstate that,” Cross said.

“Ali is a massive omission, given what she has done in the game, as is Tarryn. There will be a new coach, there will be a new captain, and there will be girls who really push for Origin debuts off the back of good NRLW season last year, and a really impressive pre-series this year.”

While Queensland undergoes major changes, NSW coach John Strange has settled combinations to draw on after winning last year’s series.