Queensland too strong for Tasmania in women's representative game

The visitors hit the front early and led all day as captain Steph O'Brien and Rachael Vetter kicked two each to deny Tasmania victory in their first representative game since 2016.

Despite the defeat, coach Deb Reynolds was proud of her players.

"We were in the game, when you look at the score, we had 11 scoring shots and six of those were points and probably 50 per cent of those could have been through the big sticks," she said.

"We were just a little bit unlucky. We won the second half, which was fantastic and very credible."

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The Tasmanian women held play in their forward half early, but it was the Queenslanders who found space and kicked the first three goals.

Described as "the best player in the competition" by coach Emma Zielke on Friday, O'Brien slotted the first before Vetter and Georgia Breward followed suit.

The Tasmanians were able to get some momentum on their side on the stroke of the quarter-time siren as a running Claire Ransom showed why she was drafted by the Gold Coast Suns, finding the big sticks to shrink the lead to 10 points.

Both defences held up tightly at the start of the second term with no majors until 12 minutes in as Vetter ran around and snapped her second.

Short, sharp kicks found O'Brien for her second as well as the Queenslanders controlled play with repeat inside-50s, but Bridgenorth's Alice Robinson nailed one against the grain for the Devils.

The visitors took a 5.3 (33) to 2.4 (16) lead into the main break as both teams kicked one major in the third, with Tasmania's being a beautiful running goal from vice-captain Dearne Taylor.

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Taylor was named Tasmania's best and relished the opportunity of playing on the big stage.

She admitted she "probably celebrated too early" for the fantastic goal but it never looked like missing.

"Coming on and being being able to impact and hit the scoreboard - it's a surreal feeling, especially for Tasmania," she said.

"I would never have thought that I'd be able to do that so I'm still pretty speechless about it."

Queensland's Lily Tarlington extended the lead to four goals early in the last, making it difficult for the Tasmanians before Courtney McDonnell sealed the deal.

A second major to Robinson and former AFLW player Abbey Green's first sparked hope of a miracle for the Tasmanians but time wasn't on their side.

O'Brien was Queensland's best, while Reynolds heavily praised Tasmania's strongest Taylor for her performance.

"These girls put on a top notch performance and I think this can only get better," she said.

"Vice-captain Dearne Taylor really led the way and showed her versatility ... coming from the back-line and going through the middle and real influence.

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"Our team was flexible and we moved our magnets around a fair bit today. That's becoming very important in women's football where it's not just a one-position game anymore. You need to be able to play multiple positions."

The work of Jennifer Guy, Robinson, Jamie Symons and Eliza Matthews also drew praise from Reynolds.

"We had people step up and we need to be able to step up for longer periods of the game and that will come with better contest, better opposition on a more regular basis."

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