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State of Origin series
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State of Origin series
The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons.
Referred to as "Australian sport's greatest rivalry", the State of Origin series is one of Australia's premier sporting events, attracting huge television audiences and usually selling out the stadiums in which the games are played. It is regularly described as the pinnacle of rugby league, inclusive of comparisons with international competitions.
Players are selected to represent the Australian state in which they played their first senior rugby league game (either high school or local senior club). Before 1980 players were only selected for interstate matches based on where they were playing their club football at the time. Queensland was not generally competitive under these selection rules, with a total record of 54 wins, 8 draws, and 159 losses, as their smaller economy and ban on poker machines meant that leagues clubs could not compete and the vast majority of elite players ended up playing in the much richer Sydney Rugby League premiership.
In both 1980 and 1981, there were two interstate matches under the old selection rules and one experimental "State of Origin" match. From 1982 onwards a best-of-three match series has been played around the middle of the rugby league season for the State of Origin shield. During the early years the overall series results remained relatively even, but Queensland surged ahead between 2006 and 2017, winning 11 out of 12 series, including a record eight series in a row.
Since the 1908 establishment of rugby league in Australia, the sport's two major states, New South Wales and Queensland, have played representative matches against each other which have continued into the "State of Origin" era, which began in 1980. The two states' teams are frequently referred to as the Blues and Maroons, reflecting the respective colours of their jerseys. These were the colours of the Australia national rugby league team's jersey until the adoption of the green and gold. The Blues team is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, and the Maroons by the Queensland Rugby League. The New South Wales team are sometimes referred to by the nickname "Cockroaches", and the Queensland team as "Cane Toads"[citation needed], due to names given to them by Barry Muir and Johnny Raper, respectively. It was reinforced by a marketing campaign used in the 1980s where the respective teams were caricatured as such.
While other Australian states and territories also have representative rugby league teams, they have not competed in the State of Origin.
The first calls for a State of Origin selection policy in interstate rugby football came before the schism between the union and league codes eventuated in Australia. In 1900, a journalist known as 'The Cynic' wrote in The Referee that star rugby player and recent immigrant to Queensland, Stephen Spragg, should be able to play for his home state of New South Wales.[1]
Since the beginning of Australian rugby league in 1908, an interstate competition between New South Wales and Queensland has been conducted almost annually (apart from during WWI, Spanish flu and WWII). Until 1982, each team drew its players from the clubs based in that state. No consideration was given to the origins of the players themselves.[2]
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State of Origin series
The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons.
Referred to as "Australian sport's greatest rivalry", the State of Origin series is one of Australia's premier sporting events, attracting huge television audiences and usually selling out the stadiums in which the games are played. It is regularly described as the pinnacle of rugby league, inclusive of comparisons with international competitions.
Players are selected to represent the Australian state in which they played their first senior rugby league game (either high school or local senior club). Before 1980 players were only selected for interstate matches based on where they were playing their club football at the time. Queensland was not generally competitive under these selection rules, with a total record of 54 wins, 8 draws, and 159 losses, as their smaller economy and ban on poker machines meant that leagues clubs could not compete and the vast majority of elite players ended up playing in the much richer Sydney Rugby League premiership.
In both 1980 and 1981, there were two interstate matches under the old selection rules and one experimental "State of Origin" match. From 1982 onwards a best-of-three match series has been played around the middle of the rugby league season for the State of Origin shield. During the early years the overall series results remained relatively even, but Queensland surged ahead between 2006 and 2017, winning 11 out of 12 series, including a record eight series in a row.
Since the 1908 establishment of rugby league in Australia, the sport's two major states, New South Wales and Queensland, have played representative matches against each other which have continued into the "State of Origin" era, which began in 1980. The two states' teams are frequently referred to as the Blues and Maroons, reflecting the respective colours of their jerseys. These were the colours of the Australia national rugby league team's jersey until the adoption of the green and gold. The Blues team is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, and the Maroons by the Queensland Rugby League. The New South Wales team are sometimes referred to by the nickname "Cockroaches", and the Queensland team as "Cane Toads"[citation needed], due to names given to them by Barry Muir and Johnny Raper, respectively. It was reinforced by a marketing campaign used in the 1980s where the respective teams were caricatured as such.
While other Australian states and territories also have representative rugby league teams, they have not competed in the State of Origin.
The first calls for a State of Origin selection policy in interstate rugby football came before the schism between the union and league codes eventuated in Australia. In 1900, a journalist known as 'The Cynic' wrote in The Referee that star rugby player and recent immigrant to Queensland, Stephen Spragg, should be able to play for his home state of New South Wales.[1]
Since the beginning of Australian rugby league in 1908, an interstate competition between New South Wales and Queensland has been conducted almost annually (apart from during WWI, Spanish flu and WWII). Until 1982, each team drew its players from the clubs based in that state. No consideration was given to the origins of the players themselves.[2]