Yasmin Clydsdale recalls maybe "a couple of thousand people" at "a bit of a random field" on the Sunshine Coast turned out for her first State of Origin appearance in 2020.
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Four years on, it is both hard to believe how far the game has come in a such a short amount of time while also not surprising when you see what it offers.
A raw, no-nonsense, skilful, athletic, expansive and entertaining product has rugby league supporters turning out in record numbers.
And, Clydsdale's home town of Newcastle is at the heart of it.
Just three weeks after a women's Origin record attendance of 25,492 in Brisbane watched the Sky Blues beat Queensland 22-12 in game one, that figure is set to be eclipsed in Newcastle with game two tomorrow night sold out.
Capacity at McDonald Jones Stadium for a sporting event is 30,000. Last year, crowds of 12,972 and 18,275 turned up in Sydney and Townsville respectively.
"To even see that growth in one year is amazing," Clydsdale said.
"I can't believe it has jumped from that to this. And also, the NRL is putting us on big fields and big stadiums in front of massive crowds."
The history
In 2018, a State of Origin for women replaced a women's interstate challenge between NSW and Queensland.
The first instalment of the match was staged at North Sydney Oval in front of 6824 fans. Newcastle rugby league trailblazer Rebecca Young and now Knights NRLW captain Hannah Southwell were in the NSW side which beat Queensland 16-10.
After being one-off games for four years, a women's two-game series was held in 2023 before expanding to three games this year in line with their male counterparts.
The legacy
The importance of playing in the first-ever three-match series is not lost on Clydsdale, who is one of three Novocastrians in the NSW team along with Knights teammates Olivia Higgins and Caitlan Johnston.
"It feels special," Clydsdale said.
"This year we're creating a legacy. We're not going to go back to two. It's always going to be three and that's something that when we all retire that we're going to remember. That we were a part of that three-game series that started it all.
"The one game never felt right because it felt like it was over and done with, and Origin is bigger than that. Then last year when they gave us the two games, we all felt off about it."
Split decision
NSW and Queensland split the results last year. The Maroons took first blood in Townsville with an 18-10 victory before the Sky Blues struck back in Origin II, winning 18-14 in Sydney. Queensland took the series win on aggregate.
"We didn't have time in the schedule to add another game in and giving it to the winners of the year before still would've felt weird," Clydsdale said.
"But Origin is an arena where you don't care how much you win by, you care if you win. So the point aggregate was a bitter pill to swallow."
So, here we are, an historic best-of-three series and it feels right.
"The three games is what the game deserves and is where we're at in the game as well," Clydsdale said.
"The skill level and the speed of the game. That first game was a lot better than the two games last year and it's because we were all raring to go for the three games."
Series win in sights
The Sky Blues can wrap up the series with another win in Newcastle but Clydsdale, who produced a player-of-the-match performance in Origin I, is eyeing a clean sweep.
"We want to take the three games," she said. "We want to put our stamp on the game with the first-ever three series and we want to bring them home, all of them."
