Firefighter and Queensland field goal specialist Lauren Brown is the queen of the big moment, because no-one understands pressure the same way she does.
On the field and off it, the versatile 30-year-old life’s work has been all about facing pressure head-on.
Last year’s 68th-minute golden point field goal in Game II of the State of Origin series was a classic case in point.
With the Maroons trailing 1-0 in the series and scores locked up, she landed a stunner in pouring rain and into a gale to secure an 11-10 win, a feat Brown had performed several times for Gold Coast in the NRLW.
The Maroons went on to win the series 2-1.
ABC Sport will provide live coverage of the Women’s State of Origin Game I from Brisbane, with a live blog and radio commentary from 7pm AEST on Thursday.
Ahead of Thursday night’s Origin opener at Lang Park, the Maroons magician explained several home truths about pressure.
“I’m a firefighter by day and night. If we are rocking up to a house fully engulfed in fire it can be a life-or-death situation,” she told AAP.
“That is what real pressure is, making sure you don’t let it overwhelm you.
“You go back to being task-focused. It helps shift you back to your principles and process.
Lauren Brown kicked a last-gasp field goal to win Game II for the Maroons. (AAP Image: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous)
“That allows you to harness the adrenaline, nerves and pressure by doing what you have been trained to do in those situations. That has helped me on the footy field as well.
“The training we receive in academy for firefighting is incredible and they always put us in worst cases [scenarios] so you are ready … to do your best possible job.”
So does training for do-or-die moments help in front of the posts?
“I guess subconsciously it does translate across, to not worrying about the outcome and going back to process,” she said.
“I don’t think about that when I am on the field. What I do relate to is that muscle memory, so I make sure I do one or two field goal sessions a week.
“It is just like I am down at Burleigh Bears practising with Dad. I am not one to think before I kick a field goal, ‘Is it going to go in?’
“It is more about catch the ball, get a good ball drop, a good follow through with my [leg] swing, keep my head down and hopefully by the time I look up it is sailing through, which lucky enough it did [in Newcastle].”
Brown recalled the best part of last year’s magic moment was looking at teammates and “seeing how much it meant to them”.
“I’m a footy tragic. You watch so many iconic moments over the years where my favourite players — [Darren] Lockyer, [Johnathan] Thurston, [Cooper] Cronk — have iced moments like that,” she said.
“When you are a little kid down the park you imagine there’s 10 seconds to go and you have to land it to win.
“I look back at the field goal and I am super grateful … but everyone in the team did something that contributed to the win.”
Brown said the Maroons were determined to make amends for last year’s Game I loss in Brisbane and “make Queenslanders proud”.
AAP
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