How wrong they were.

On a night which celebrated everything this fixture has become in the space of just two years, 10,515 clicked through the turnstiles on Friday night to watch NSW, featuring South Coast's Kezie Apps and Millie Boyle, beat Queensland 14-4.

That may have been a modest count, too.

"I turned up last year and I was shocked by the lines," NSW coach Andrew Patmore said.

"You get a bit emotional about it but I thought I would be sweet this year. You turn up here and get off the bus - we got dropped on the other side of the road, so we had to cross the road - you were looking each way and it still choked me up.

"It is an amazing thing, the support that the game is getting. The atmosphere there, the chants, it's a great venue and a great crowd."

They packed into the O'Reilly Stand to watch Isabelle Kelly bust tackles, climbed to the top of the Macartney Stand to see Jessica Sergis step her way through the defence and lined the picket fence to get a glimpse of the playmaking prowess of Maddie Studdon.

It was standing room only by the time the two teams went to work.

There were precision passes from Kirra Dib and big hits from Hannah Southwell but the fast-stepping feet of Sergis were what kept NSW in the hunt through a first half which was really all for the Queensland fans.

AFP officer by day, star Origin prop by night, it was Heather Ballinger who laid the platform for the visitors.

She charged through the middle of the field set after set, allowing Queensland's halves Ali Brigginshaw and Jenni Sue-Hopper to pin NSW in their own half.

Eventually, the pressure told and turned into points.

Tamzin Gray caught the ball in space, stepped off her right foot, stuck the left arm out to palm a would-be tackler and crash over to set up the 4-0 half-time lead.

It wasn't all bad for NSW fans, though.

Two of the new kids on the block, rugby converts Tiana Penitani and Millie Boyle, impressed, as did Sergis, which was to be expected.

But their kicking game was disappointing, an afterthought which released the pressure the home side were able to build through strong carries.

When play resumed, that same kicking game turned the match on its head.

Studdon put a perfectly weighted grubber in behind the Queensland line after earning field position with a booming kick down field, only for Shakiah Tungai to drop the ball over the line.

It was a big blow but one minute later, a 'New South Wales' chant broke out in the O'Reilly Stand.

The crowd could sense a different NSW team had returned from the sheds.

They were on the money.

Fittingly, with 20 to play, a sharp cut-out pass put Sergis in space down the right edge after Queensland were pinged with ball in hand and she put NSW on the board.

Dibb made up for the missed conversion with a forty-thirty and the woman they packed into the O'Reilly stand to see - Kelly - set up the try which stopped Queensland in their tracks.

The second half was all about the reigning Golden Boot superstar.

She shed the tackle of Queensland rookie Stephanie Mooka, hit Tungai on the chest and the winger didn't make any mistake in grounding the ball the second time around.

NSW were on a roll.

Willed on by those fans who lined the picket fence, Studdon finished what she started in the second half.

She dummied, stepped and scored the match-winner.

By the time the final siren rang out, it was easy to see why the fans had climbed to the top of the Macartney Stand.

This was rugby league at its best, encompassing all the elements which drew the crowd through the gates in the first place.