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Rugby League State of Origin
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The Rugby League State of Origin is an annual best-of-three series of rugby league matches between the Maroons, representing the state of Queensland, and the Blues, representing the state of New South Wales. 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. State of Origin series have a reputation as the toughest, hardest-fought rugby league matches 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 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 "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.
Queensland won the 2007 series 2–1, wrapping up the series after winning the first two games. New South Wales avoided the whitewash by winning the third match held at Suncorp Stadium.
The 2008 series was won by Queensland making it three series in a row. New South Wales won Game 1 on 21 May 2008, however Queensland won Game 2 (30-0, one of the highest winning margins in the history of rugby league football) on 11 June 2008, and also Game 3 on 2 July 2008.
TeamsPlayers of the Queensland team are sometimes referred to as cane toads and the New South Wales players as cockroaches, due to a marketing campaign used in the 1980s where the respective teams were depicted in such a manner.
History
Interstate Rugby League Prior to 1980The 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.
Since the beginning of Australian rugby league in 1908, an interstate competition between Queensland and New South Wales 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, 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 Kangaroo team was to be picked for touring Great Britain. Instead of announcing an Australian team dominated by Queenslanders, the Australian Rugby League Board of Control informed the media that the Rugby Football League had decided that the Kiwis 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 Hogan 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 footballBy 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.
The solution was to come from the rival code of Australian rules football, in which there was a situation similar to the Sydney drain of Queensland representatives; there was an increasing drift of talented players to the Victorian Football League (VFL), depleting other state leagues and representative teams. In 1977, at the instigation of Perth sports marketing professional, Leon Larkin, Western Australia (WA) played Victoria in an Australian rules "State of Origin" game at Subiaco Oval, Perth. QRL chairman Ron McAullife attended, at the invitation of VFL president Dr Allen Aylett. Larkin invited a Queensland business contact, Barry Maranta (the future co-founder of the Brisbane Broncos). Also in attendance were Brisbane Courier-Mail reporter Hugh Lunn, 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 official.)
Three Sydney clubs remained opposed to the plan: St. George Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Eastern Suburbs Roosters. As these clubs were refusing to release players, Humphreys threatened to make the game an official Australian 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 Wales 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 Fulton 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 at Lang Park that saw Queensland convincingly beat New South Wales 20-10.
1981-1986: The Early YearsIn 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 immortal captain Wally Lewis, was inspired by this, and in each of these years won the series 2-1.
In 1985, under the leadership of captain Steve Mortimer, New South Wales won the deciding match in front of 29,068 spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground, 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 ControversyAfter Queensland had won the 1987 series 2-1, a fourth game was played at Long Beach, California to showcase rugby league 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 board room at Lang Park, 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 League 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 Stadium in Long Beach, California in front of 12,349 fans. The Blues won the game 30-18.
In 1987 the Australian Rugby League (ARL), New South Wales Rugby League and Queensland Rugby League 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 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 Carr 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 Arthurson, 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 WarAfter the controversy of the match played in the United States, the Queensland halves pairing of Allan Langer & Wally Lewis 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 Stuart and Benny Elias 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 in-experience. The 1992, 1993 & 1994 series all went to NSW as the experience of Blues players such as Laurie Daley, Ben Elias and Ricky Stuart gave the Blues the edge when the games were on the line. It wasn't until the upheavel of the Super League war 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 Broncos, its players and many other Queenslanders were not aligned with the ARL prohibiting any players signed with the 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 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 League. The series proved to be enthraling 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.
Selection rulesUnder 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 Hunt, 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 Carroll and Karmichael Hunt).
Anomalies- In 1995 and 1997 Super League players were made ineligible for the ARL state of origin selection. This included most of Queensland's usual team, who now played for the Super League affiliated Brisbane Broncos. The ARL hence decided to relax the rules in those years, allowing Queensland to select Adrian Lam who had previously played for Papua New Guinea.
- 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 (NSW), Kevin Campion (Qld), Tonie Carroll (Qld), Graham Mackay (NSW), Willie Mason (NSW), Luke Ricketson (NSW), Kris Tassell (Qld), Lote Tuqiri (Qld) and Adrian Vowles (Qld),
State of Origin results- For full results and statistics, see Rugby league State of Origin results and statistics
Super LeagueIn 1997 a Super League Tri-series was played between New South Wales, New Zealand and Queensland. 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
- Queensland defeated New Zealand 26-12
- New South Wales defeated New Zealand 20-15
- New South Wales defeated Queensland 23-22
History-
- by Sean Fagan, RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
- by Sean Fagan, RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
- by Sean Fagan, RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
- by Sean Fagan, RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
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- by Jeff Wall, Crikey April 12, 2005, retrieved November 18, 2005
- by Jeff Wall, Crikey May 23, 2005, retrieved November 15, 2005
- National Rugby League, March 21, 2005, retrieved November 18, 2005
- stateoforigin.com.au, no date, retrieved May 8, 2007
General records and statistics- Fagan, Sean (2005) RL1908, retrieved November 15, 2005
- by the Australian Rugby League, retrieved November 15, 2005
- by the National Rugby League, retrieved November 18, 2005
- by the New South Wales Rugby League, retrieved November 15, 2005
- by the Queensland Rugby League, retrieved November 15, 2005
- 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
- Official State of Origin website , retrieved November 15, 2006
Sources disputing the 1987 Los Angeles match- Colman, Mike (July 7, 2005) 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- by the New South Wales Rugby League, retrieved November 18, 2005
- retrieved November 18, 2005
- retrieved November 15, 2006
See also
External links
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