'Complete mayhem': When the Fire broke a 70-year NSW curse

'Breaking a Curse' also features as Season Two, episode one on Stories After Stumps, out now here or wherever you listen to podcasts

We've all got our favourite sporting rivalries. The match-ups that make our blood boil and get us up off our seats. One day it's joy, the next it's despair ... it's how rivalries go.

But what if the rivalry you pinned your emotions on was really one-sided? To the point that, after 70 years and more than 40 matches without a single win, your team had become little more than a pitiable afterthought in the equation. What then?

For the Queensland Fire in the year 2000, this was the ugly reality when it came to New South Wales. Ever since they'd been bowled out for 24 and 27 in their first official match way back in March 1931, the Queenslanders had been up against it when it came to their southern counterparts.

But with the dawn of a new century, and as the rest of Australia became gripped by Olympics fever, a bunch of part-time Queensland cricketers were fighting to change that narrative for good.

In this special oral history – which can also be listened to as the season two opener of cricket.com.au's Stories After Stumps podcast – we are taking you back 25 years to a special moment in the story of the Queensland Fire…

Melissa Bulow (former Queensland & Australia batter): "The rivalry between Queensland and New South Wales in women's cricket has always been intense, and deeply embedded – so not just at senior level, but even through every layer of the pathway system. So even as juniors, you're acutely aware of the strength and dominance of New South Wales. It was a rivalry that shaped our mindset and expectations from a very young age."

In the late 1990s, women's cricket in Australia was finally on the move. After winning the World Cup in India in 1997, the names of the country's best players, such as Belinda Clark, Zoe Goss and Cathryn Fitzpatrick, were working their way into the cultural conversation.

On the domestic front, the National Championships, played over a fortnight each January, had been reconfigured and rebranded. In the summer of 1996-97, the Women's National Cricket League was launched. And from the get-go, the powerhouse of that competition was the New South Wales Breakers – untouchable on the field and, according to Queensland 'keeper Julia Price at the time, not particularly likeable off it…

Julia Price (former Qld & Aus 'keeper-batter): "You didn't really hang out with New South Wales. New South Wales didn't want to hang out with us. They were a bit too cool. And the good thing about that is that really drove us to be better and make sure that we could beat New South Wales, because there was an arrogance around New South Wales. They knew they were the best. They were the best. And that really annoyed us."

The Breakers won the first six WNCL titles to become the competition's dominant force. In the decades prior, Victoria had outpointed them for National Championships won, but the wheel had turned.

Some things however, remained the same. In seven decades of trying, Queensland had never beaten New South Wales. Young batting gun of the time Sally Cooper puts it like this…

Sally Cooper (former Qld & Aus batter): "We had a culture where we were very much used to losing because we'd done a hell of a lot of it. And New South Wales had the culture of winning because they'd done a hell of a lot of that, too. They were experienced. They had exceptional depth and talent. They were still being led by one of the greats, Belinda Clark, so they knew what it felt like to win."

As the domestic showpiece of women's cricket at the time, the WNCL had designs on thriving long-term. But to do so, it needed an entertaining product. And an entertaining product would be built not only on quality players, but on competitive balance.

And so we come back to Queensland. The '90s had also been a decade of change for the Fire, as they were officially named in 1996 with the launch of the WNCL. And according to the players of the period, there were a few reasons for that change. One was the groundswell of interest around the breakthrough 1994-95 success of the men's Sheffield Shield team, which had been trying to land a title for seven decades. Sound familiar?

Price: "We all wanted to be inspired, as we were, by the Queensland Bulls when they won the Shield in '94-95. That also was a big turning point for Queensland cricket in general, everyone was proud to be a Queenslander, (so for us it became a question of) how could we keep advancing the game and improving ourselves and making Queensland proud and representing Queensland the best way we could?

"Also, I think we were just getting a bit more competitive. We took the game a little bit more seriously and going away also from that National Championships (format) that we'd had right up until 1995 (was beneficial). The WNCL made it feel like proper cricket; it wasn't just going away for two weeks, playing some cricket, having a few beers and having a good time. It changed the whole dynamic."

By 2000, Price had been Australia's 'keeper for around four years. Crucially, she had also come through the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) thanks to a deal brokered between that governing body and the Queensland Cricket Association. It meant access to excellent facilities and coaching for the most promising young cricketers in the state. And Price wasn't the only one to benefit.

Bulow: "I look back, and that was a turning point, certainly for me. I was in the very first (QAS) intake. I was about 16, Bennett King was at the helm, (and) it was myself, Kelly Klibbe, Megan White and Tricia Brown. And I remember it was based down at South Brisbane, and I'd pretty much finish school, and my dad would take me down there for a two-hour strength and conditioning session, and then drive me home that night. That was definitely transformational for me."

The pathways were suddenly looking more promising too. In the summer of 1993-94, a Queensland women's team had made a national final for the first time, with the Under 18s getting through to the decider against, guess who?

Maryanne Brandon (former Qld batter and 'keeper): "Queensland for the first time – in my last year of Under 18s, I was the captain – we actually made the final with New South Wales. And that was a first for Queensland. Of course, they absolutely annihilated us in the final but we were ecstatic just to make it through. So we were getting there. Obviously New South Wales and Victoria were very, very strong … but we were always striving and trying to get there."

In 1998, Queensland became the first state to officially merge its men's and women's governing bodies. Suddenly Price found herself being supported in training by her men's counterpart, Wade Seccombe, while access to more facilities improved. It was far from perfect – the revolution that had to happen was still almost two decades away – but at last there were proactive steps being taken.

Leg-spinner Angela Farrell had played three matches for NSW before moving to Queensland chasing opportunity. And immediately she noticed some differences between the two state setups that surprised her…

Angela Farrell (former Qld leg-spinner): "It's a really good training set-up, up there. Queensland were more ahead in terms of amalgamating with the men.  So there were a few more resources available in terms of facilities, the coaching available, and even on the financial side of things – they had Konica come on board as a sponsor of the Fire, so for the first time you weren't paying to go away for the National League weekends, or even uniforms. And I think we were getting a player allowance; a meal allowance might have been $20 per meal – something minor, but that was big time really, because that had never been the case before.

"That went right through to the Under 17s and the Under 19s as well. So we had five players that had come through into that senior side that had experience: Mel Bulow, Tricia Brown, Sally Cooper, Kelly Klibbe, and Megan White … that crop of players that had actually been used to winning, and had that experience of winning.

"Definitely that set up from Queensland Cricket and that support and just access to turf wickets to train on – that was just good to have that consistency. Back in New South Wales at that time, we'd be sort of swapping around a little bit where we trained. It was starting to get a bit better … but you'd still be training at whoever's club ground they could get access to the nets at."

So with QAS expertise, governing bodies aligning, a promising flow of talent, and a major sponsor on board … why wasn't the Queensland Women's team already enjoying success? Why was this sleeping giant of Australian cricket still snoozing? And why was this Breakers curse still hanging over them? Sure, they had come close in '96, losing by two wickets when the NSW ninth-wicket pair had put on 28 to get them home in a one-dayer at Beenleigh. But the humblings and the hidings had been far more prevalent – from being bowled out for 65 in Melbourne, to watching the Breakers openers cruise to a 10-wicket win in Adelaide.

Bulow, who turned 20 in June 2000 and was named vice-captain of the Fire that summer, can think of a few reasons why the status quo remained.

Bulow: "They certainly carried a level of intimidation through their sustained success. And obviously their playing group was consistently stacked with international representatives. You can go through almost any New South Wales team list from that era and find that the majority of players either had or would go on to represent Australia. And this particular game was no different. In comparison, we had talent and grit, but far fewer players with that national experience, Julia Price being the exception. So I guess the contrast was significant and certainly created a psychological barrier that was difficult to overcome at times.

"It's similar to Queensland's inferiority complex a little bit – we've always enjoyed that tag as well. So the games are always hard fought but we never really ended up on the right side of that ledger. It was only later that the tide started shifting a little bit for us."

Farrell: "Queensland certainly didn't have the depth. New South Wales had a very good schoolgirl system, and that had been going for years. So there were players were coming through that system … and you got access to all these kids out in the country playing boys cricket, men's cricket, (they would) come to Sydney to play women's grade cricket … and there were five grades in the Sydney competition.

"The first-grade competition was anywhere between four and six teams at different times, but because there was no other rep cricket – (aside from) the odd Australian tour, and the two-week National Championships, and then four rounds of the Women's National League – people were playing grade cricket; that was the only chance they got to play cricket. So grade cricket was hard. You're coming up against all the Australian players, all the state players, every week.

"And then coming up to Queensland, they were still developing that. The school system wasn't quite the same. They were still getting good rural kids in and fast-tracking people (but) people would get opportunities earlier and they just didn't have the numbers. So in grade cricket, you'd pull a few people into first grade that may have played indoor cricket or another sport, or someone's friend might have been a tennis player, a softball player, but they could swing the bat and they'd be batting down the order a bit."

Cooper: (NSW) were a very formidable team, and they wore their confidence on their chest. I wouldn't say that they weren't a friendly team by any stretch, but they certainly had an air of success to them, and perhaps it could be seen through the lens of arrogance, but I think it was just more a confidence – they had belief in themselves, and they knew that they could get the job done."

Farrell: "I think other teams in the National League saw Queensland as a team that had lots of unfilled potential. There was this crop of good young players and good older players that had been around a while and were street-wise, but just never put complete performances on the board.

"I think that mentality within the Queensland side was that they just sort of didn't sort of see themselves as a serious threat. When I came into the team, I definitely noticed that. There was a fair bit of work done on building that belief and confidence that we could actually compete with some of these other teams, and particularly, New South Wales, which was always a fairly star-studded lineup."

The Fire headed into the 2000-01 summer boasting that tried and tested blend of youth and experience. Despite the lack of success, there was still a proud lineage of Queensland women who had been involved in the game in a playing, coaching or admin capacity, and the link with the current crop remained. The likes of Bulow and Brandon had been spotted by Queensland legend Katherine Raymont, while Glenys Thatcher was still hands on in a coaching role with the Fire side. Thatcher had in fact recruited Peter Drinnen to work as a sort of coaching consultant, before circumstances led to him becoming head coach.

Peter Drinnen (former Fire coach): "Konica were our major sponsor back then, and there wasn't very much money, if any, in the women's game, and yet the women gave a wonderful commitment to what they were doing. I was very fortunate to have Julia Price as captain, so I did a lot of learning off Julia. When I came into that role as a young coach, I would have been in my early 30s, and I say to this day, that phase of my coaching with the women taught me arguably the most I've ever learned in how to go about communicating, being prepared to be out of your comfort zone and adapting, and lots of things that I felt were wonderful for my coaching moving forward."

With hindsight, it isn't difficult to see this period as the beginnings of a more professional approach in the women's game. Drinnen zeroed in on specific points of improvement for the team to work on, such as running between the wickets, or facing the short ball.

Drinnen: "I remember one day at Albion, up on the top oval (at Allan Border Field) I said to the girls, 'We're going to do some short stuff today'. And in the girls game we had Cathryn Fitzpatrick back then, who bowled sharp – she was an excellent bowler.

"And they say to me, 'We don't face short bowling (in games)'. I said, 'Well, maybe you will moving forward'.

"So that day, I'll never forget it, I set the (bowling) machines up, and they all cursed me and called me names and said I'd lost my marbles. But when you look back, and where we are now with the quality of the cricket – the quality of stroke play off the front and back foot – I think that was maybe something that needed to happen."

The Fire rounded off their pre-season training with a couple of practice matches against the ACT on October 20 and 21. The Brisbane-based games mirrored how the WNCL schedule worked – two 50-over games against the same side on a Saturday and Sunday. In the first game, Price made 134no and Queensland introduced a 15-year-old pace bowler named Kirsten Pike. In game two, Bulow top scored with 85. Across the weekend, Cindy Kross took five wickets, and Bronwyn Buckley three.

Drinnen: "It was a good squad. We had some really quality players. Melissa Bulow, the left-arm seamer Tricia Brown, and well led by Pricey. They had such a strong side New South Wales, and I genuinely thought we could have matched them."

A week later, and the star-studded Breakers were in town. Led by skipper Belinda Clark, the national captain who had just started as chief executive of Women's Cricket Australia, the team was littered with international experience, as well as some of the country's most promising up and comers like Leonie Coleman and Lisa Sthalekar.

Lisa Sthalekar (former NSW & Aus allrounder): "It was the who's who of Australian cricket, really: Clark, (Lisa) Keightley, (Michelle) Goszko, (Martha) Winch, (Julie) Hayes, (Therese) McGregor, (Bronwyn) Calver … I played under age with Martha Winch, Emma Liddell, Leonie Coleman, Deb Nelson as well – we were like the next little wave.

"Victoria were still our nemesis but then I look at Queensland, and I had some really good friends in that side, people I used to go hang out with – Tricia Brown, Sally Cooper, Kelly Klibbe – and that was all because of underage cricket, we all came up through the ranks and spent a bit of time together.

"They had some good players – obviously 'Pricey', and Bulow, of course … and then you added this influx of young players who didn't really care who they were playing – they just wanted to play good cricket. So they were a side that were coming up."

Cindy Kross (former Qld pace bowler): "New South Wales were a team of champions and Queensland, we were a team of nobodies – apart from probably 'Pricey', who was the only one in the Australian team at that stage."

Price: No, none of us were superstars. We were all just honest cricketers, just trying to do our best for Queensland. And that's what I liked. Like there were egos, but there weren't big egos. It wasn't like (there) was a Belinda Clark – the best player in the world. And it wasn't like (we had) a Karen Rolton who played for South Australia at the time, who was just this incredible player and had this reputation, you know?"

Clark won the toss and top scored with 59 as NSW were kept to 9-167 thanks to four wickets from Kelly Klibbe and two each to right-armer Cindy Kross and the leg-spinner and former Breaker Farrell… A stop-start chase led by Brown's 48 ultimately fell 19 runs short… but for the Fire, there was much to be enthused about.

Brandon: "We were close, and we could sense that. Nineteen runs when we talk about New South Wales, isn't that much to lose by."

Farrell: "We actually could have won that game, or (we were) in positions in that game to win, and that might have been the closest we'd got to them in a long time. So we went into the second game with a little bit of 'Gee, what if?' and a bit more belief that we nearly could have turned that around.

"And Peter Drinnen, I remember him talking to us about moments where if something, or one thing, had gone a bit differently, we could well have won that game."

Price: "I think at that point we'd started to perform a lot better in the year or two prior to that, and we'd started to have a bit of pride in our performances. And obviously a 19-run loss to New South Wales is good, but at the same time, I think, we'd just turned that corner where we had these expectations of ourselves and how we could be better.

"We had girls who were playing in the Australian teams and the underage youth (national) team. People had aspirations and they had egos and they had pride in their state. So yes, it absolutely made a big difference that we'd got close, but we sort of sat back and said, 'Damn it, have we just let an opportunity pass there?'"

October 29, 2000. The Paralympics closing ceremony draws the best games ever to its official close in Sydney; Sri Lanka roll India for 54 in the Champions Trophy final; and on a chilly day in Brisbane, the Queensland Fire girls are eyeing a slice of history. The venue is Brisbane Grammar School Oval, in the heart of the city and amid a tangle of major roads.

Price: "It's right on the gateway there and it's freezing cold and there's this huge gale blowing all the time. Zero atmosphere. But it was great to have turf pitches and they were really nice fields and good quality grounds for us to play on, which is great. Sightscreens, too – how fancy (laughs)."

Breakers captain Clark again wins the toss but this time around, she decides to bowl first. 90 minutes in and the Fire are well placed at 1-89, with the leadership duo, Bulow and Price, well set but scoring slowly…

Bulow: "It's probably typical of how I played during that era … taken my time to get into my innings and then find ways to get out in my 30s and 40s. I think 47 versus New South Wales, I would have been pretty stoked with that at that age. It was only probably later on that I was able to learn how to kick on in my innings. But I think I was certainly looking at that as a good solid knock, particularly against that New South Wales bowling attack, (which was) full of stars."

In fact it's Debbie Nelson, one of just two players in that NSW XI who never plays for Australia, who does the top-order damage. The right-arm medium pacer has Bulow caught by Keightley, then takes two more wickets in her next over, accounting for key Fire bats Price and Brown. Suddenly the hosts have lost 3-5, and middle-order pair Leonie Shields and Sally Cooper are at the crease.

Cooper: "My motto was 'In for a good time, not a long time', and I think that was really what I felt like when I was going in there – just don't get out and make some runs. I just scored very fast, and I didn't really care about who was bowling at me, unless it was spin bowlers, and my only motto for a spin bowler was 'It won't spin off the willow, so get down there and make sure it doesn't bounce'."

Cooper, 22, blasts a crucial 45 from 48 balls to reignite the Fire innings. The knock will kickstart a run of form that will send the young Queensland star all the way to the 2001 Ashes tour – though her exposure to that level was perhaps also her undoing…

Cooper: "Once I started training with the Australian team, I think they cottoned on really quick that I struggled with spin bowling, and that sort of filtered through down to every state. And so once I hit the crease, there wasn't too many fast bowlers, medium-paced bowlers hanging around anymore. Lisa Sthalekar was like, 'Yep, I'm on' (laughs)."

With 3.3 overs remaining, Queensland are 6-148. Kross walks in at No.8 and faces just eight of the final 21 balls, but her 13 runs are like gold at the back-end of the innings.

Kross: "At that time, a few of us bowlers who batted at the end of the innings, our mantra became 'make runs or get out'. Because if you're standing there dotting up balls and not getting any runs, well, it's not doing the team any good. So I went out there with that sort of mindset, and must have put on a few at the end."

From 50 overs, the Fire have cobbled together 8-176. It's a decent total – nine more, in fact, than what the Breakers managed batting first 24 hours earlier…

Greg Cubitt (standing umpire): "Well that was a big score back then, because there wasn't too many women's state teams getting 200 – if you got 200 that was very, very competitive.

"I did quite a few Women's National League games in the 90s and into the '00s. The girls were paying their own way. I remember doing a South Australia versus Queensland game at Beenleigh, and I felt really sorry for the South Australian girls, because it was a wet weekend, and they'd paid for themselves to come up from Adelaide and we didn't get much cricket in at all. We tried our best – we got a few overs here and there – but for the girls to be paying their own way, and to see what we have now, it's been a revolution, all right, in women's cricket."

To defend 176 against such a strong Breakers side, Price feels Queensland are going to have to beat them at their own game. Remember, this is well before the professionalisation of the women's game – bowlers, typically, are not as quick, batters not as powerful – so it is all about playing to certain strengths. And with all that in mind, she is expecting plenty from opening bowler Kross…

Price: "Cindy was an excellent bowler. More of an indoor cricket background, but played very, very well in the outdoor game as well. Big inswinger, which really tied up a lot of people, and very accurate off-pace bowling. The batters had to generate that pace themselves.

"So (we implemented) a little bit of New South Wales's strategy – tried it against them with regards to keeping it nice and tight, keeping the stumps in play. And Cindy definitely was that bowler. She also had a nice straighter ball as well, which would occasionally get that little outside edge. I was able to keep up to her most of the time as well, which was, you know, put a bit of extra pressure as well, I think on the batters by having someone up so early.

Kross strikes early, removing Keightley and Goszko – two of the big names in Australian women's cricket.

Kross: "I guess whenever we went out there, it was just like trying to play our game rather than worry about who they were. From my perspective, I didn't necessarily know who they were to start with. You know, people say all these names, and it's like, 'Oh, I don't know who they are'. I just go out there and do my job, and things will happen, hopefully."

The Breakers lose another wicket but the ship is steadied by veteran opener Clark and 18-year-old rookie Amanda Owens. Throughout the stand, the Queenslanders are happily chirping away, reminding their rivals that this game is well and truly on.

Price: "We like to have fun and we like to … verbally say how much we're having fun, and whether that's at the opposition or whether that's at us, we just like to make it fun. It was never abusive or anything like that, but we did like to have a good joke and muck around and, I know that does really irritate a lot of people and that's what we particularly liked.

"Even if it was complete rubbish that we were talking, so long as it was having the desired effect on the opposition, we were more than happy to keep talking about things. So the girls were pretty good at judging how it was going down with the batters at the time."

Clark and Owens move the score along to 77 before the youngest member of the Fire, 19-year-old Leonie Shields, removes her fellow teen. It's the second time this year Shields has gotten the better of her, after the two also squared off in the Under 19s National Championships in Toowoomba nine months earlier.

Just past the halfway point, NSW need 100 to win, now at more than four runs per over…

Bulow: "We certainly thought we were in a good position. But you always know, with Belinda Clark still at the crease, she just finds a way. So while Belinda Clark's still at the crease, you knew you still had a long way to go."

Then it happens. In her 10th WNCL match, right-arm medium pacer Bronwyn Buckley takes the biggest wicket of her career, nabbing Clark for 40 – caught behind by Price. The Breakers top five is back in the sheds, and 93 runs are needed in 19.4 overs.

Again the visitors steady. Experienced pair Hayes and McGregor put on 37 in 10.1 overs. But Buckley strikes again, knocking over McGregor. An over later, Shields stuns NSW with two more wickets – they're suddenly 8-125 and the winning target of 177 is looking well beyond them. The equation reads as this: 52 runs needed from 43 balls, with two wickets in hand.

Price: "I would have been thinking: I think we're half a chance here. And unfortunately, it didn't quite go as we were hoping. Cricket can really find you out sometimes – if you just take the foot off the pedal a fraction, they find that advantage, your opposition, and particularly when it's a team like New South Wales that is so used to winning. We were still learning how to win, which sounds ridiculous, but it's such a hard thing to do sometimes and just recognising those moments when things can shift (is crucial). And Lisa Sthalekar came in and absolutely started belting us around."

For reasons no-one can quite recall, Sthalekar enters proceedings at No.9, five places lower in the order than she batted a day earlier. The 21-year-old is one of the most promising allrounders in the country. But she's slight of build. On the slowish outfield, boundaries are going to be difficult. And the Fire players are circling. Sthalekar remembers their young crop as being athletic. Price says they had become an excellent fielding group. But the Breakers are winners, and so, for the next 21 minutes, Sthalekar and Emma Twining scurry between the wickets, pushing desperately for every run they can.

Sthalekar: "There was a lot of twos, because I was never big on boundaries. I was all about chipping into the gap and run very hard. That was me."

The method works well for 29 balls, as the ninth-wicket pair add 38 runs. Fourteen more are needed from as many balls when left-armer Tricia Brown delivers the ball across the right-hander Twining, who slashes hard, and edges. Enter Maryanne Brandon. The team's back-up keeper is standing at a floating third or fourth slip. As the ball flies between her and Price, she throws herself spectacularly into the game.

Brandon: "So I do recall taking that catch because it left a scar – I have a scar for it. It's gone to my left, I know (the dive) was full stretch, and my left sprig went into my right knee, but I held the catch, jumped up, didn't even realise, then got into the group, and then could see that my knee was bleeding because (the gash) was right in between my culottes and my long socks, and the knee was bleeding. We were so excited. It was just full adrenaline, waiting for the last batter to come out. And then it was on, and we were so close."

The Fire are one wicket away from breaking a seven-decade drought. But still Sthalekar is there, and she's joined by wicketkeeper Leonie Coleman.

Farrell: "It was just the depth of talent in that New South Wales side. I mean, even Leonie Coleman, the 'keeper, batting at 11 – she'd bat in the top six in her Sydney grade side, and open the batting often."

The contest has officially entered thriller territory as we move into the final over. Still the runs are coming – Coleman has managed six from eight balls while Sthalekar is 30 from 21 and on strike. Tricia Brown has ball in hand. With NSW four from their target, Brown comes in to deliver the fifth delivery of the 50th over – which will ultimately become the final ball of the match.

Price: "I remember she hit it behind backward point. So Tricia Brown being a left-armer, normally would be bringing it in. Obviously end of innings, the ball's probably not swinging, she's gone a bit across the line. I think she's played it behind backward point and looked for the two."

Sthalekar: "It was definitely the second run, yep."

Price: "We did have a deep third out and they've come around and thrown it back to me. I was facing towards the pavilion at this point, and I can see Sthalekar coming back and I've taken the bails off and I've thought to myself: I'm appealing for this. I'm not sure if it's out, but it's close-ish and it's worth an appeal. I'm not going to say whether I thought it was out or not, but either way I was appealing."

It's the tightest of calls. And so a decision is needed. All eyes turn to square leg umpire Cubitt, who raises an index finger. Out.

Cubitt: "Some of the New South Wales girls thought I might have got it wrong. But anyway, it is what it is. Lisa was a bit upset. She gave me a bit of a look. She certainly didn't go over the top or anything like that, but she just gave me that certain look players give you when they think you might have made a blunder. It's certainly debatable, but I often remember that particular game because of that run out."

Price: "We broke into complete mayhem and celebrations. No idea what happened with New South Wales or any reaction from them because clearly we'd won the game on the second-last ball."

Farrell: "When we got over the line and we got that run out, people were ecstatic. And I think the New South Wales players probably thought we were a bit over the top, but for us, it was a very big deal, because we'd beaten them, and that hadn't happened before, and we were pretty excited by that.

"We had a team song that season, and it was a bit of a ridiculous song – one that Pricey and I had put to the team. It was (the theme song to) 'It's a Knockout' which was that '80s TV show with Billy J Smith and Fiona McDonald. It just had a ridiculous, upbeat, sort of a theme song.

"And I swear most the girls that were younger had no idea, didn't know the show, but then they just got into the ridiculousness of it. And I just remember when we won that game, and we came off, and we got in (to the changerooms), and we just blared that song, that ridiculous song, and people were doing the do-si-do and bush dancing almost, arms around the room, and just carrying on. And I walked out and a few of the New South Wales girls were like, 'What was that?'"

Queensland's landmark win didn't cause a ripple in wider sports media at the time. It was the way of women's sport in the era. And besides, for the most part, the players themselves don't recall even knowing it was their state's first-ever win over New South Wales. But Brandon certainly did.  

Brandon: "I remember (thinking) to myself back then: Well, I'll never forget that catch – that's the one that helped us get the win over New South Wales. So I do recall that, and that's probably why I remember, (plus) because I'm scarred for life, obviously (laughs)."

Queensland won four and lost four that season and made the three-match finals series for the first time. Their opponents? Who else, but the Breakers. Clark's side claimed the first two finals to lift the WNCL trophy for a fifth straight time. Their season tally read nine wins from 10 – their only defeat the two-run nailbiter against the Fire.

How then to view this victory in the broader picture of the Queensland-NSW rivalry? Well, after that match, the Breakers won the next 13 matches between the two sides, across five-and-a-bit years. So perhaps it was just a moment in time, an anomaly before the resumption of normal service. And perhaps what happened on that windswept October day at Brisbane Grammar School is all the more extraordinary because of it.

Bulow:  "Any win against New South Wales, it doesn't matter what sport you're playing, it's always momentous. And obviously this was for us at the time – it broke a drought that had lasted decades, and proved that they were in fact beatable. But I think it's important to point out that, while it was a turning point of sorts, it would be misleading to suggest that it immediately shifted the balance of power. In truth, even after that result, we often found ways to let opportunities slip – there were many matches, and particularly at finals level, where we held dominant positions but couldn't close them out. So whilst we would never readily admit it, that belief gap still persisted."

It was largely a new era of Fire players who began competing regularly with New South Wales. And it wasn't until their rivalry transitioned into the Big Bash that they could claim finals bragging rights, beating the Thunder and then the Sixers in the semi-final and final of WBBL04 to lift that trophy.  

So while turning point it was not, a quarter-century on and bearing all the numbers in mind, captain Price remembers it as seismic for the Fire's belief, both at the time, and moving forward.

Price: "It takes that big scary thing away from New South Wales' reputation that, you know, they're unbeatable. Once you've beaten them and you realise that they're human, it was perfect for the future to continue to build on that. Absolutely, it was a huge deal – even if we didn't realise it at the time and we were just making light of it and having a great time, it certainly was a big step for Queensland cricket and particularly for the women's team."

Cooper, too, believes that first-ever win was seminal in its own way for the group of players, the ones who came before them, and those who continue to follow them. All links in a long chain that only grows stronger with each passing season…

Cooper: "We got to feel what it was like to win, and then suddenly they weren't invincible anymore. So we didn't just win a game that day. We cracked a frequency, and put a chink in the armour of an old narrative. Once that happens, everything shifts. You can't go back to not believing after that.

"I'm really proud of being a part of that. I'm proud of that Fire team and being part of something that really laid the track for where they are now, because it's like seeing a story you've helped open now being told in full colour."