Fitter, faster, stronger: Upton's summer of work set to pay off

An off-season spent working on her strength and motion after opting to skip the World Cup has Knights star Tamika Upton hopeful she can get through a full NRLW season in 2023.

Upton returned to the Knights for the start of pre-season training this week fresh off Queensland’s 18-10 win over the Sky Blues in Game One of Ampol Women’s State of Origin.

The Karyn Murphy medal winner spent the summer working with local Newcastle company Urban Base Fitness Performance, where she was assisted with strength training following her decision to withdraw from last year's World Cup. 

Upton was disrupted by a calf injury last season and withdrew a day after starring for the Knights in the 2022 NRLW grand final. She spent the off-season working alongside Hannah Southwell, who is on the comeback from an ACL injury.

"I’m the strongest and fastest I’ve ever been," Upton said.

"I haven’t played a full NRLW season without an injury. I’ve got to get the cobwebs out but I’m really good mentally and physically after having that break and building my body.

"[Working with UBF] wasn’t connected to footy but now they’re working with our Knights team so it’s pretty cool to have 3-4 months when we don’t really get that in.

"We’ve had a really solid off-season and the other two (Hannah and Jesse Southwell) would say the same. We’ve been working really hard.

"It’s a very different Knights squad this year and I’m excited to get back."

Upton is expected to re-join her Queensland teammates in Origin camp next week ahead of Game Two in Townsville, where she will look to help the Maroons wrap up the series.

She expected close mate Jesse, who made her Origin debut against Upton at 18 last week, to come back stronger for NSW in Townsville.

"I told her she killed it. She’s 18 and controlling the game out there. I know her game pretty well so I know what she’s capable of," Upton said.

"She showed glimpses and I know the more footy she plays the better she’s going to get. Our middles just set the tone and our backs followed.

"They’ve obviously got a really good pack and were missing a few players with Hannah and Caitlan Johnston out so we knew if we could dominate through the middle with a few injuries they had we could win."

The wash-up of Thursday night's upset win on home turf attracted a record crowd of 12,972 and more than 900,000 viewers across Australia and Upton couldn't wait to potentially eclipse both figures for Origin II.

"The reception we got [throughout the game] was really funny, Z (Zahara Temara) had a rough night with her kicks and the crowd are into her but I thrive off that," Upton said.

"It just means more people are coming to our games and we love that. It’s a great atmosphere and we can’t wait to get up to Townsville in front of Queensland fans."