Jessica Sergis has bolted into calculations for the end of year World Cup on the back of a hat-trick for New South Wales in their 22-6 Women's Interstate Challenge win over Queensland.
The 19-year-old debutant was pipped by teammate Kezie Apps for the player of the match award but she won't mind after she grabbed three tries in a stunning display on the right wing.
Sergis crossed for the first two tries of the match and then capped her dream debut with a third later in the game, and while she might have looked cool, calm and collected on the field, teammate Sam Bremner revealed it was a totally different story in the sheds.
"Just before in the bathrooms coming out here, she said 'Sammy how do you feel? You wouldn't be nervous would you?' I said 'yeah I'm pretty nervous but I'm more excited' and she just goes 'oh I'm absolutely crapping myself'," Bremner laughed.
"It's really good to see her [succeed] because she was so nervous and she wanted to play her best for the team. She got us a hat-trick and that's awesome for her first game."
Sergis didn't shy away from her pre-game fears, with the Cronulla Caringbah star telling media that she gets nervous ahead of every game she plays in; the fact it was an Origin clash only amplified the situation.
"Even before a club game I'm nervous, but this is different. This is Origin!" Sergis said.
"I grew up watching the boys play and this is what I've always wanted to do. To play, to win and to score on debut, it's actually a dream come true and I'm actually lost for words. I'm happy!
"I kept looking back to see what the time was and it was going so slow. I knew we were up by quite a bit but you just never know because it's Origin. I just kept looking at the scoreboard, and when I saw there were five seconds left, I knew we had it."
Sergis was almost lost to the game when she had to cut short her footy career due to a lack of pathways but thankfully for the Blues – and possibly the Jillaroos – it didn't take long for her to come back to the sport she loves most.
"I played for the Coogee Wombats when I was six or seven but I only played for a couple of years because girls weren't allowed to play [after that]," she said.
"I moved to Oz Tag and played for Australia, I did athletics, swimming at school, played a few years of AFL, and then not that long of union but I never really liked it and the contact wasn't for me.
"This contact I love and I've always grown up with this game so I'm just so happy that I've got to play it now. Hopefully I've got a lot of years to come."
This article first appeared on NRL.com
