State of Origin is an Australian best-of-three series of rugby league football matches between the Maroons, representing the state of
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and the Blues, representing the state of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
. Described as "sport's greatest rivalry", the State of Origin series is one of Australia's and the region's premier sporting events, attracting a huge television audience and usually selling out the stadiums in which the games are played. Despite the existence of international tournaments and State of Origin being a domestic competition, it is frequently cited as being the highest-level of rugby league played anywhere in the world.
Players are selected to play for the state in which they played their first senior football, hence the name 'state of origin'. Prior to 1980 players were only selected for interstate matches on the basis of where they were playing their club football at the time. 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. Since the inception of the series, total victories for each side are extraordinarily even.
Teams
Since 1908 Australia's two major rugby league-playing states, Queensland and New South Wales, have played representative matches against each other and this has continued into the "state of origin" era which began with the 1980s. The two states' teams are frequently referred to as the Maroons and Blues, reflecting the respective colours of their jerseys. The Queensland team also has the nickname of "the
cane toadThe cane toad , also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to Central and South America. It is a member of the subgenus Chaunus of the genus Bufo, which includes many different true toad species found throughout Central and South America...
s", while New South Wales are called "the
cockroachCockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin name for the insect, Blatta....
es". The Maroons team is administered by the
Queensland Rugby LeagueThe Queensland Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League and selects the members of Queensland State of Origin teams....
and the Blues, by the
New South Wales Rugby LeagueThe New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed on 8 August, 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers...
.
|
Queensland Maroons |
New South Wales Blues |
Players of the Queensland team are sometimes referred to as the
cane toadThe cane toad , also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to Central and South America. It is a member of the subgenus Chaunus of the genus Bufo, which includes many different true toad species found throughout Central and South America...
s and the New South Wales players as the
cockroachCockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin name for the insect, Blatta....
es, due to a marketing campaign used in the 1980s where the respective teams were depicted in such a manner. More recently, the NSW representatives are sometimes referred to as 'Cattledog', following the controversial tactics employed by former coach Tom Raudonikis during the 1997-1998 series.
Whilst other Australian states have also had representative rugby league sides, they have not competed in State of Origin.
Interstate Rugby League Prior to 1980
The first calls for a state of origin selection policy in interstate
rugby footballRugby football may refer to a number of sports through history descended from a common form of football developed in different areas of the United Kingdom. Today it refers to either rugby league or rugby union.- History :...
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
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Stephen Spragg, should be able to play for his home state of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
.
Since the beginning of Australian rugby league in 1908, an interstate competition between
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
has been conducted from time to time. Until 1979 each team drew its players from the clubs based in that state. No consideration was given to the origins of the players themselves.
The first of these interstate games was played at Sydney's Agricultural Ground on 11 July 1908, before Queensland had even commenced its club competition. New South Wales easily accounted for Queensland in a 43-0 victory. The local media were unimpressed.
- There can be no doubt the NSW men are improving a good deal... They cannot be blamed for the farce, for it was nothing else. If the Australian team depends on Queenslanders to strengthen it, one is afraid it will be found wanting. They are quite the weakest lot of footballers I have even seen come down from Queensland. The play needs no detailed description as it was simply a practice match for NSW, and certainly did not advantageously advertise the new game.
- -The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. The newspaper's Sunday edition, The Sun-Herald, is published in tabloid format...
, 13 July 1908
Apart from a golden period for Queensland in the 1920s, the interstate series was dominated by New South Wales. From 1922 to 1925 Queensland defeated New South Wales 11 times in 12 matches. At the end of the 1925 season a
KangarooThe Australia national rugby league team have represented Australia in rugby league football since the establishment of that sport in Australia in 1908. They are the most successful team in Rugby League World Cup history, winning 9 out of 13 tournaments contested, and failing to reach the final...
team was to be picked for touring Great Britain. Instead of announcing an Australian team dominated by Queenslanders, the
Australian Rugby League Board of ControlThe Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
informed the media that the
Rugby Football LeagueThe Rugby Football League is the governing body for rugby league in the United Kingdom. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, the Rugby League National Leagues and Super League...
had decided that the
KiwisThe New Zealand national rugby league side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. They are administered by the New Zealand Rugby League. The Kiwis are the current Rugby League world champions.The Kiwis won the...
would provide stronger opposition, and that there would be no Australian tour. The period spanning 1922 to 1929 saw no Australian team play in Great Britain, the only such hiatus outside the two world wars.
The New South Wales dominance of interstate football increased after 1956 when gaming machines were legalised for all registered clubs in New South Wales. This provided New South Wales football clubs with a revenue source unmatched by Queensland clubs. From this time on an increasing number of Queensland players moved to the Sydney competition, becoming ineligible for Queensland state selection.
Paul HoganPaul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor and comedian most famous for his role as Crocodile Dundee, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...
famously told a Queensland Rugby League gathering in 1977 that "every time Queensland produces a good footballer, he finishes up being processed through a New South Wales poker machine."
Prior to 1956, Qld had won 25% of series played. From 1956-1981 this number dwindled to only 3.8% with only 1 series win, in 1959.
The Conception of State of Origin football
By the 1970s the prestige of interstate matches had been seriously downgraded. Matches were played mid-week, so as not to interfere with the Sydney club competition, and the small crowds in New South Wales were hosted at suburban grounds. Interstate football reached its nadir in 1977 when the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) declined to host the Queensland team, and both interstate games were played in Queensland.
Former Queensland captain and Australian vice-captain
Jack ReardonJack Reardon was an Australian rugby league footballer of the 1930s and 40s who later became a sports journalist. An Australian international and both a New South Wales and Queensland representative centre, he played club football in country New South Wales before moving to Queensland and playing...
, who had later become a journalist, was the first to suggest that Sydney-based Queenslanders should be available for selection to represent their state. However the southern code of
Australian rules footballAustralian football, also commonly referred to as Australian rules football, football, or Aussie rules, colloquially as footy, and historically as Australasian football or Victorian football, is a variant of football played between two teams of 18 players, plus four interchange players, outdoors on...
would play a role in instigating the conception of State of Origin. In that sport there was a situation similar to the Sydney drain of Queensland representatives; there was an increasing drift of talented players to the
Victorian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is the major professional Australian national competition in the sport of Australian football and is arguably Australia's biggest sporting competition in terms of membership, corporate sponsorship and attendances .The league comprises 16 teams which play 22 home and...
(VFL), depleting other state leagues and representative teams. In 1977, at the instigation of
PerthPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. With a population of 1,650,000 , Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average....
sports marketing professional, Leon Larkin,
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
(WA) played
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of...
in an
Australian rules "State of Origin"Australian rules football matches between teams representing Australian colonies/states and territories have been held since 1879. For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition and international matches meant that football games between state representative teams were...
game at
Subiaco OvalSubiaco Oval, known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. It is located in the suburb of Subiaco, about three kilometres west of Perth's city centre....
, Perth. QRL chairman Ron McAullife attended, at the invitation of VFL president Dr
Allen AylettDr. Allen Aylett , a dentist is the recently retired chairman of the North Melbourne Football Club. He first held this position during the 1970s and then again from 2001-2005...
. Larkin invited a Queensland business contact,
Barry MarantaBarry Maranta is co-founder of the Australian-based Brisbane Broncos rugby league team. He is also an ex Old Boy of Marist College Rosalie in Brisbane...
(the future co-founder of the
Brisbane BroncosThe Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. The Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership...
). Also in attendance were Brisbane
Courier-Mail reporter
Hugh LunnHugh Lunn, Brisbane author and Queensland Icon. Hugh Duncan Lunn is an Australian journalist and author, born in Brisbane, Queensland in 1941. Lunn served his journalism cadetship with The Courier-Mail. Upon completing his cadetship, he worked overseas for seven years...
, and Maranata's business partner Wayne Reid. They watched WA stage a historic reversal and triumph over Victoria, in front of 40,000 fans.
Lunn, Maranta and Reid played a part in persuading McAuliffe that the concept could be used in rugby league. Lunn told McAullife that "you can take the Queenslander out of Queensland, Ron, but you can't take the Queensland out of the Queenslander." McAuliffe was initially sceptical. "What if we recall our boys from Sydney to play, and we are beaten. Where would we go from there?" Reid spoke to NSWRFL president Kevin Humphreys and suggested that a one-off state of origin match could be used as a Test Match selection trial.
New South Wales clubs were reticent in their support of the concept and set two conditions:
- If the third game was to decide the series it was not to act as a selection trial, and
- that the expatriate Queenslanders would be under the supervision of a representative of the NSWRFL whose duty it would be to protect the interests of both the NSWRFL and the clubs to which they were contracted. (From 1980 this role was filled by Bob Abbot, a Cronulla Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Cronulla, New South Wales in the Sutherland Shire, south of Sydney...
official.)
Three Sydney clubs remained opposed to the plan:
St. George DragonsThe St George Dragons were an Australian rugby league club that has, since 1999, formed half of the merged St. George Illawarra Dragons team of the National Rugby League. St George are still represented as a stand alone entity at a junior level, with teams representing the district in the Harold...
,
South Sydney RabbitohsThe South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-Central Sydney. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the New South Wales capital...
and
Eastern Suburbs RoostersThe Sydney Roosters is a professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League and National...
. As these clubs were refusing to release players, Humphreys threatened to make the game an official
Australian Rugby LeagueThe Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
trial, which would make release mandatory. The clubs backed down.
After Queensland lost the first two interstate matches (35-3 and 17-7, the second game in front of only 1,638 Sydneysiders) it was announced that a 'state of origin' match would take place on 8 July at Lang Park in Brisbane. The
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
media gave both the event, and Queensland's chance of winning it, little credence, calling the game a "three day wonder". Australia's 1978 captain
Bob FultonRobert "Bob" Fulton AM is an Australian rugby league football identity. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great success at the highest levels and has been named amongst Australia's greatest rugby league players of the 20th century.As a player Fulton won...
called the match "the non-event of the century". Ron MacAullife however, was now committed to the concept and vigorously promoted the match. Thousands of tickets were sold before the game had been officially sanctioned. Although interstate matches in Brisbane had still been well attended (24,653 had attended the opening match of the 1979 series), few expected the sell-out crowd of 33,210 Queensland rugby league fans, delighted to see their heroes in the likes of Arthur Beetson representing their home state for the first time ever. Queensland convincingly beat New South Wales 20-10.
1981-1986: The Early Years
In 1981 the first two interstate matches were again played under the old selection rules. As New South Wales won the first two matches in the series, state of origin selection rules were used once more in the third match. Although New South Wales ran out to an early 15-0 lead in the game, Queensland rallied to win 22-15. The interest generated by this second state of origin match was enough to convince the authorities to play all three games under state of origin rules the following year.
From 1982 to 1984 the New South Wales media dismissed the seriousness of the Queensland threat. Queensland however, under the leadership of
immortalA major Australian rugby league magazine Rugby League Week in 1985 selected an exclusive group of players dubbed 'The Immortals'. The group consisted of Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, Reg Gasnier, and Johnny Raper...
captain
Wally LewisWalter James "Wally" Lewis AM is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. Currently a commentator of the sport, he is widely regarded as the greatest Rugby League player of all time...
, was inspired by this, and in each of these years won the series 2-1.
In 1985, under the leadership of captain
Steve MortimerSteve Mortimer OAM, , nicknamed Turvey after Turvey Park in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, where he hailed from, is an Australian former rugby league halfback. Mortimer played a Canterbury-Bankstown club record 272 first grade games between 1976-88. Mortimer's two younger brothers Peter and Chris...
, New South Wales won the deciding match in front of 29,068 spectators at the
Sydney Cricket GroundThe Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney. It is used for Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches, and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League...
, claiming the series for the first time. The following year the Blues were able to go one better and complete the first state of origin whitewash, taking the series 3-0.
1987: American Controversy
After Queensland had won the 1987 series 2-1, a fourth game was played at
Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach is a large city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast. It is situated in Los Angeles County, about south of downtown Los Angeles. Long Beach borders Orange County on its southeast edge....
to showcase
rugby leagueRugby league football is a full-contact form of football, played with a prolate spheroid ball by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. Rugby league is one of the two codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union...
to the American public.
In
Origin: Rugby League's Greatest Contest 1980-2002 (2003) Jack Gallaway tells the story:
- There was one additional Origin contest played in 1987.. The Queenslanders had climbed the mountain and at no point did they take the project seriously in any competitive sense. The State of Origin trophy was safely stowed in the Queensland Rugby League
The Queensland Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League and selects the members of Queensland State of Origin teams....
board room at Lang ParkLang Park, currently known as Suncorp Stadium due to naming rights, is a rectangular sporting stadium located in the Brisbane suburb of Milton, Queensland, Australia. Built on the site of a cemetery, the stadium has been the home of rugby league football in Queensland since 1957 and today also...
, and for the Maroons the visit to the United States was their end-of-season outing, the game an exhibition... Such was the Blues' disappointment at the loss of the State of Origin series that they would go to any length to restore some vestige of their lost pride. The New South Wales Rugby LeagueThe New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed on 8 August, 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers...
hierarchy told their men to prepare for the contest as though it was a deciding test match. The match was played at the Veterans Memorial StadiumVeterans Memorial Stadium is a stadium located south of the Liberal Arts Campus of Long Beach City College in Long Beach, California. It is the home stadium to a number of local area high school football teams, as well as Long Beach City College's football team...
in Long Beach, California in front of 12,349 fans. The Blues won the game 30-18.
In 1987 the
Australian Rugby LeagueThe Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
(ARL),
New South Wales Rugby LeagueThe New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed on 8 August, 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers...
and
Queensland Rugby LeagueThe Queensland Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League and selects the members of Queensland State of Origin teams....
agreed that the match would count towards the players' individual statistics, but that the match would not count towards the states' overall records. On 15 July 2003 the
Australian Rugby LeagueThe Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
announced that the fourth 1987 game was to be classified as an official match, and that a win in the state of origin match on 16 July 2003 would take New South Wales into the overall lead.
ARL chief executive
Geoff CarrGeoff Carr is the CEO of the Australian Rugby League as well as the New South Wales Rugby League. He is also a retired rugby league footballer, having played first grade in the NSWRL premiership with the St. George Dragons during the 1970s and reached the 1971 grand final with them. He was...
said: "There had been some debate over whether the Origin fixture . . . in 1987 was counted as an official match but a search of ARL records has confirmed the status conferred on that clash by the game's governing body at the time. In announcing the match in Big League in April 1987,
Ken ArthursonKenneth Richard "Arko" Arthurson AM is an Australian former rugby league footballer, coach and administrator.Arthurson played, coached and was later an administrator at the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club...
, the ARL's chief executive in 1987, was quoted as saying 'It's an exciting experiment but the match isn't and won't be billed as an exhibition match'." However, he later contradicted himself, saying: "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind it was an exhibition game and should not count towards official match scores."
1990s: The Super League War
After the controversy of the match played in the United States, the Queensland halves pairing of
Allan LangerAllan "Alfie" Langer AM is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. He was one of the pre-eminent half-backs of his era, representing Australia on several occasions and taking the record for most State of Origin appearances of any player...
&
Wally LewisWalter James "Wally" Lewis AM is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. Currently a commentator of the sport, he is widely regarded as the greatest Rugby League player of all time...
lead the Maroons to their most dominant period where in the last years of the '80s, won both the 1988 & 1989 series 3-0. It wasn't until the Blues formed a formidable halves combination of their own in
Ricky StuartRicky Stuart is an Australian rugby league football coach and former player. He is presently the head coach for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks of the NRL. Before becoming the Sharks' coach in 2007, Stuart coached the Sydney Roosters who he took to a premiership in his first year...
and
Benny EliasBenjamin Elias is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 90s. He played primarily as a hooker for Balmain in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. He was one of the leading hookers from the mid 1980s until his retirement at the end of the 1994 season...
who brought New South Wales back from defeat with two wins in the opening games of the 1990 series. It was evident that as the rivalary between the two states grew, the Origin matches had become much more physical forward orientated game than the open running play seen in earlier series.
As the great Queensland players from the late '80s began to retire from Rugby League, the Maroons struggled with a team of fresh faces and considerable inexperience. The 1992, 1993 & 1994 series all went to NSW as the experience of Blues players such as
Laurie DaleyLaurie Daley OA is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former player of Indigenous Australian descent. He represented Australia on several occasions and has since been named as one of the nation's finest players of the 20th century...
, Ben Elias and
Ricky StuartRicky Stuart is an Australian rugby league football coach and former player. He is presently the head coach for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks of the NRL. Before becoming the Sharks' coach in 2007, Stuart coached the Sydney Roosters who he took to a premiership in his first year...
gave the Blues the edge when the games were on the line. It wasn't until the upheaval of the
Super League warThe corporate dispute commonly referred to as the Super League war was fought in and out of court during the mid-1990s by the News Ltd-backed Super League and Kerry Packer-backed Australian Rugby League organisations over broadcasting rights for, and ultimately control of the top-level professional...
in 1995 that the Maroons were able to get back a series win.
A main cause for concern for Queensland was the fact that the
Brisbane BroncosThe Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. The Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership...
, its players and many other Queenslanders were not aligned with the
ARLARL may refer to:*Admiralty Research Laboratory, a UK military research laboratory*Aero Research Limited, a UK company involved in the development of aircraft adhesives*Airport rail link*Akamai Resource Locator*Alden Research Laboratory...
prohibiting any players signed with the
Super LeagueSuper League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition of Europe. As a result of sponsorship from Engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the Engage Super League...
to play for the Maroons. Despite this the Queenslanders won the 1995 series 3-0 in a shocking white-wash. The 1996 series saw the off-field contract dramas put the side as all players were allowed, regardless of contract, state of origin selection. Having the majority of the Queenslanders back didn't help the Maroons though as the Blues 1996 white-wash with a 3-0 series win of their own.
The 1997 saw arguably two origin series. Under the Super League banner there was a Tri-Origin series as a New Zealand side was added to the competition although the
Australian Rugby LeagueThe Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
stuck to its traditional format.
1998 saw the end of all the political bickering within rugby league as the Superleague & ARL formed the current
National Rugby LeagueThe National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL competition is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
. The series proved to be enthralling as both sides won a game each away from home, setting up a decider at the Sydney Football Stadium where 39,000 fans witnessed the visiting Queenslanders take the series 2-1.
The end of the '90s era saw a dramatic series that was arguably a main reason for the implementation of the golden-point extra time rule, when the 1999 series was locked up 1-1 and Game 3 ended in a draw, Queensland were awarded the series. It was the rules that as previous holders of the Origin Shield, a draw was enough for them to retain the interstate honours.
2000s
The 2008 series was won by Queensland making it three series in a row.
New South WalesThe New South Wales Rugby League team represents the state of New South Wales annually in the Rugby League State of Origin competition against arch-rivals Queensland...
won Game 1 on 21 May 2008, however Queensland won Game 2 on 11 June 2008, and also Game 3 on 2 July 2008.
Selection rules
Under State of Origin rules players are selected for the state in which they first played senior (or registered) rugby league. Players must also be eligible to represent Australia at international level. This has proved controversial as players, such as
Karmichael HuntKarmichael Hunt is a New Zealand born Australian multi-code football player. He is best known as a rugby league player for the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League. He primarily played in the fullback position, but has also played on the wing and at five-eighth and halfback...
, who are eligible for more than one country have chosen to be available for Australia in order to play State of Origin. Because State of Origin football is so highly esteemed, players eligible to represent Australia as well as another country often choose Australia, not only to play for the national side, but also to play State of Origin (as was the case with
Tonie CarrollTonie Carroll is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Brisbane Broncos of the NRL. He retired from rugby league in 2009 and was working in real estate on the Gold Coast, he has since returned after seeing the Broncos recent injuries and poor performances over the past month...
and
Karmichael HuntKarmichael Hunt is a New Zealand born Australian multi-code football player. He is best known as a rugby league player for the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League. He primarily played in the fullback position, but has also played on the wing and at five-eighth and halfback...
).
Another issue of contention has been the selection of players such as Ken Nagas, James McManus,
Israel FolauIsrael Folau also known as Isileli Folau in Tonga is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League. A wing or centre, he has also represented Australia at international level and Queensland in State of Origin...
and
Greg InglisGreg Inglis is an indigenous Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Melbourne Storm of the National Rugby League...
. Inglis and Folau were born and raised in New South Wales but are eligible to play for Queensland as they played their first senior Rugby League match in Queensland. Ken Nagas was born and raised in Queensland but played for New South Wales, while McManus was born in Scotland and was raised in the Northern Territory, but has been ruled eligible to play for New South Wales in the 2009 series.
Anomalies
- In 1995 and 1997 Super League
Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...
players were made ineligible for the ARLThe Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
state of origin selection. This included most of Queensland's usual team, who now played for the Super League affiliated Brisbane BroncosThe Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. The Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership...
. The ARL hence decided to relax the rules in those years, allowing Queensland to select Adrian LamAdrian Lam is an Australian rugby league football coach and former international player. He is an assistant coach with the Sydney Roosters National Rugby League team he signed with them mid 2007 and will combine with former team mate and friend Brad Fittler. He will also coach the Roosters...
who had previously played for Papua New GuineaIn Papua New Guinea, Rugby league is highly popular and is regarded as the country’s national sport. The national side are known as the Kumuls...
.
- During the 2000 World Cup a number of Australian players were granted dispensations to appear for other nations under the grandfather rule. The players affected were David Barnhill
David Barnhill is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. His club career was with the Canberra Raiders, St. George Dragons, Sydney City and Leeds Rhinos...
(NSW), Kevin CampionKevin Campion is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. His positions of choice were in the second row and at lock. Kevin is the younger brother of Australian radio personality Paul Campion...
(Qld), Tonie CarrollTonie Carroll is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Brisbane Broncos of the NRL. He retired from rugby league in 2009 and was working in real estate on the Gold Coast, he has since returned after seeing the Broncos recent injuries and poor performances over the past month...
(Qld), Graham MackayGraham Mackay is an Australian former national and state representative rugby league footballer whose club career spanned nine Australian and English clubs, including Western Suburbs, Penrith, Gold Coast Chargers and Hull F.C. in a fifteen year top grade career...
(NSW), Willie MasonWilliam Marshall Mason is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Sydney Roosters of the National Rugby League...
(NSW), Luke RicketsonLuke Ricketson is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. He played his entire club football career for the Sydney Roosters of the NRL. Son of former Easts player, Doug Ricketson, "Ricko" as he was known, became, over the course of his career, one of the most respected...
(NSW), Kris TassellKris Tassell is a former professional rugby league player.Tassell was a Wales international and played at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.-External links:****...
(Qld), Lote Tuqiri (Qld) and Adrian VowlesAdrian Vowles is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. He played in Australia for several years, gaining State of Origin selection in 1994, but spent the majority of his career in the English Super League...
(Qld),
State of Origin results
- For full results and statistics, see Rugby League State of Origin results and statistics
This is a list of Rugby League State of Origin results and statistics. Contained here are the results of each official rugby league State of Origin match, the exhibition match played between New South Wales and Queensland in the United States and the matches played between New South Wales and...
Year by year
The table below shows the results of the one-off games of 1980/1981, and the subsequent series in accordance with statistics used by the Australian Rugby League, New South Wales Rugby League and Queensland Rugby League. The colour of the year denotes the team that has won or retained the shield, except 1980 and 1981 - NSW had already won the Shield in both series (2 wins to nil), under non-Origin rules. In years with a drawn series (1999, 2002) the shield has been retained by the team that won the previous year however is classified as a 'Drawn Series'.
| Year | Winner/holder of shield | Wins | Losses | Drawn |
|---|
1980The 1980 State of Origin game between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues was the inaugural match under the newly configured rules by which a player would represent his "state of origin", i.e. the state in which he was born or in which he started playing registered first grade...
|
Queensland |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1981The second ever Australian rugby league State of Origin fixture of 1981 featured a stunning comeback by the Maroons, an all-in-brawl, a 90-metre try by Eric Grothe, Sr...
|
Queensland |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| 1982 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1983 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1984 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1985 |
New South Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1986 |
New South Wales |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1988 |
Queensland |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| 1989 |
Queensland |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| 1990 |
New South Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1991 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1992 |
New South Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1993 |
New South Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1994 |
New South Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1995 |
Queensland |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| 1996 |
New South Wales |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| 1997 |
New South Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1998 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 1999 |
Queensland |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| 2000 |
New South Wales |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| 2001 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 2002 |
Queensland |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| 2003 |
New South Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 2004 |
New South Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 2005 |
New South Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 2006 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 2007 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 2008 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 2009 |
Queensland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
Super League
In 1997 the rugby league premiership was split between the ARL and
Super LeagueSuper League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...
. In addition to the ARL's State of Origin, a
Super League Tri-seriesThe Super League Tri-series was a rugby league competition contested in 1997 between representative teams from Queensland, New South Wales and New Zealand. It was held as an alternative to the Rugby League State of Origin that was contested in the same year between players from the Australian Rugby...
was played between New South Wales, Queensland and New Zealand. The teams were selected using origin rules, and New South Wales and Queensland met twice. These matches do not count towards the official state of origin record.
- New South Wales defeated Queensland 38-10 (Aussie Stadium
The Sydney Football Stadium is located in Moore Park, in Sydney, New South Wales. It was built in 1988 to be the city's premier "rectangular field" for rugby league...
11 April 1997)
- Queensland defeated New Zealand 26-12 (Ericsson Stadium
Mt Smart Stadium, formerly Ericsson Stadium, is a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. Built within the quarried remnants of the Mount Smart volcanic cone, it is located 10 kilometres south of the city centre, in the suburb of Penrose.-History:...
9 May 1997)
- New South Wales defeated New Zealand 20-15 (Bruce Stadium
Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia...
14 May 1997)
- New South Wales defeated Queensland 23-22 (ANZ Stadium
The Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre , more commonly known by its former names ANZ Stadium or QE II, is a major sporting facility on the south side of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...
19 May 1997)
Footnotes
- The canonicity of the fourth match in 1987 is disputed. In 1987 it was agreed by both states that this match would be an exhibition match, and was described as such by media in both states. Media and governing bodies based in New South Wales (Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
, New South Wales Rugby LeagueThe New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed on 8 August, 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers...
, Nine NetworkThe Nine Network, or Channel Nine, is an Australian television network based in Willoughby, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney. For nearly 40 years between 1956 and 2005, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
) now include this match in the overall tally. Media and governing bodies in Queensland (Queensland Rugby LeagueThe Queensland Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League and selects the members of Queensland State of Origin teams....
, The Courier-MailThe Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. Owned by News Corporation, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format...
) include the match in individual player tallies, but not in the overall tally. For example, The Courier-Mail noted after game 3 in 2005 that "It took NSW 25 years to draw level with Queensland in overall Origin clashes..." when other statistics from New South Wales show the tally to be 37-36. RL1908 lists the match as a "Non-series match" and The World of Rugby League lists the match as an "Exhibition Game" .
History
-
- "NSW v Queensland: 1908 - 1980" by Sean Fagan, RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
- "The First State of Origin" by Sean Fagan, RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
- "State of Origin History 1981-2004" by Sean Fagan, RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
- "The Origin of State of Origin" by Sean Fagan, RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
-
-
-
- "Overseas Players and State of Origin" by Jeff Wall, Crikey April 12, 2005, retrieved November 18, 2005
- "The Origins of State of Origin" by Jeff Wall, Crikey May 23, 2005, retrieved November 15, 2005
- "We Still Want Hunt" National Rugby League, March 21, 2005, retrieved November 18, 2005
- "How it all began" stateoforigin.com.au, no date, retrieved May 8, 2007
General records and statistics
- Fagan, Sean (2005) "State of Origin Results 1980-2005" RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
- "History: State of Origin Results 1980-2003" by the Australian Rugby League, retrieved November 15, 2005
- "State of Origin Matches 2004-1980" by the National Rugby League, retrieved November 18, 2005
- "History" by the New South Wales Rugby League, retrieved November 15, 2005
- "State of Origin Records" by the Queensland Rugby League, retrieved November 15, 2005
- "State of Origin Statistics" by World of Rugby League, retrieved November 15, 2005
- ARL article suggesting that the 2002 drawn series was a series win to Qld because they retained the title http://www.australianrugbyleague.com.au/index.cgi?det=1&intArticleID=357&sID=21
- Official State of Origin website "History and results" , retrieved November 15, 2006
Sources disputing the 1987 Los Angeles match
- Colman, Mike (July 7, 2005) "Rampant Blues Level Age Old Score" The Courier-Mail
- Colman, Mike (November 26, 2005) "Assigning History by asterisks" The Courier-Mail (page 61)
- Dick, Barry (July 16, 2003) "Origin Battle Rages On and Off the Field" The Courier-Mail (page 1)
Player lists
- "Past Origin Players" by the New South Wales Rugby League, retrieved November 18, 2005
- "Rugby League World Cup 2000 Country-by-Country" retrieved November 18, 2005
- "Playes for each State of Origin game/series listed clearly" retrieved November 15, 2006
See also
- National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL competition is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
- State of Origin
State of Origin is the name used in Australia for sporting events or other competitions which involve domestic representative teams.The term, when used in isolation, usually refers to rugby league football or Australian Football matches, in which players are selected for the Australian states or...
- Rugby league in Australia
Rugby league football is one of the most popular sports in Australia. It is the dominant winter sport in the states of New South Wales and Queensland, which comprise around half of the country's population...
- Affiliated States Championship
The Affiliated States Championship is an annual rugby league competition run by the Australian Rugby League involving the four affiliated states plus the Australian Police and Australian Defence Force.Following the Championship, an Australian representative side is selected from the teams to tour...
External links