Brisbane is on track for a world record-breaking crowd at Thursday’s Women’s State of Origin opener with numbers set to smash the benchmark set last year.

According to the NRL, ticket sales have projected a crowd of around 25,000 for game one at Suncorp Stadium, which is about half the capacity of ground.

If accurate, those numbers will beat the record for a stand-alone women’s rugby league match set last year for game two in Townsville, which drew 18,275 fans for the final of a two-game series.

Those projections alleviate early concern about the ticket sales of game one which had both states worried.

Those concerns grew out of a belief the NRL had made an error by not including Women’s State of Origin as part of a four-day ticket package for Magic Round attendees, which sells out every year.

Packages were sold as a three-day event, with fans to purchase separate tickets for the women’s game.

Magic Round kicks off in Brisbane on Friday, but women’s Origin is the unofficial start, also filling the valuable Thursday night timeslot for broadcasters.

The atmosphere is typically hostile for an Origin match at Suncorp and Queensland women’s coach Tahnee Norris expects no different even if it’s half full.

“Hopefully everyone is pushed into the same areas, the noise there will be insane and the girls will absolutely love it. They’ve all got so many friends and family going anyway, so they’ll be so excited,” she said, adding a record crowd would be further proof the women deserve a three-game series. “That’s insane, that’s so good. the girls will be so happy that’s happening,” she said of the predicted crowd.

“I was excited anyway, so to hear that, that’s great.

Early numbers also suggest game two in Newcastle on June 6 has the potential to sell out, while ticket sales for Townsville on June 27 are slower but not unexpected for a game that could be a dead-rubber or decider.