State of Origin | |
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Sport | Rugby league football |
Instituted | 1982 |
Inaugural season | 1980 |
Number of teams | 2 |
Country | Australia (ARL) |
Shield Holders | Queensland (2011) |
Most titles | Queensland (18 titles) |
Broadcast partner | Nine Network |
Related competition | City vs Country Origin |
State of Origin is an annual best of three series of rugby league football matches contested by the Maroons and the Blues, who represent the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales respectively.[1] Described as "sport's greatest rivalry,"[2][3] 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.[4] 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.[5][6][7][8]
Players are selected to represent the state in which they played their first senior rugby league, 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 for the State of Origin shield. Since the inception of the series, total victories for each side were formerly extraordinarily even, however from 2006 Queensland has dominated the competition, winning all six of the following series.
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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 Maroons team is administered by the Queensland Rugby League and the Blues, by the New South Wales Rugby League.
New South Wales Blues | Queensland Maroons |
Players of the Queensland team are sometimes referred to as the cane toads and the New South Wales players as the cockroaches, 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 Tommy 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.
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 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.[2]
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.
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.[4] The period spanning 1922 to 1929 saw no Australian team play in Great Britain, the only such hiatus outside the two World Wars.[5]
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."[6]
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.
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.[9] 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.[7]
Former Queensland captain and Australian vice-captain Jack Reardon, who had later become a journalist, was the first to suggest that Sydney-based Queenslanders should be available for selection to represent their state.[10]
Brisbane Courier-Mail reporter Hugh Lunn, Barry Maranta (the future co-founder of the Brisbane Broncos) [8] and Maranta's business partner Wayne Reid played a part in persuading QRL chairman Ron McAullife that the concept could be used in rugby league.[9] Lunn told McAullife that "you can take the Queenslander out of Queensland, Ron, but you can't take the Queensland out of the Queenslander."[10] 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. [11]
New South Wales clubs were reticent in their support of the concept and set two conditions:
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. [12]
After Queensland lost the first two interstate matches in 1980 (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 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.[13]
I was strongly against such a match, but last night's gripping clash showed that such a fixture would be a welcome addition to the League program.[11]
— Alan Clarkson, journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 October 1980
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 the experimental state of origin matches of 1980 and 1981 and the potential for financial rewards were enough to convince the authorities to play all three games under state of origin rules the following year.[14]
The State of Origin format is the only possible way to allow the interstate series to survive.
— Frank Hyde (2 June 1982)[12]
Despite the Maroons' success so far in the State of Origin experiments, the New South Wales media dismissed the seriousness of the Queensland threat to the Blues' long-held dominance in series wins. Queensland however, under the leadership of immortal captain Wally Lewis, was inspired by this, and for the first three State of Origin series Queensland won 2 matches to 1.
However, 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.[15]
After 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.[16]
In Origin: Rugby League's Greatest Contest 1980–2002 (2003) Jack Gallaway tells the story:
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."
After the controversy of the match played in the United States, the Queensland halves pairing of Allan Langer and Wally Lewis led the Maroons in their 3–0 series wins in both 1988 and 1989. The rise of the Canberra Raiders in the then Winfield Cup club competition produced for the Blues the formidable halves combination of Ricky Stuart and Laurie Daley 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 rivalry 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.[18]
As the great Queensland players from the 1980s began to retire from the game, the Maroons struggled with a team of fresh faces and considerable inexperience. The 1992, 1993 and 1994 series all went to NSW as the talent and experience of Blues players such as Brett Mullins, Daley and Stuart in the backs and Benny Elias and Bradley Clyde in the forwards gave the Blues the edge when the games were on the line. It wasn't until the upheaval of the Super League war in 1995 that the Maroons were able to again clinch a series.
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 aside 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 Australian game divided in 1997 into two competitions, one run by the ARL and one by the News Limited-owned Super League, and an interstate series was played in each. Under the Super League banner there was a Tri-Origin series with a New Zealand side added to the competition. The ARL meanwhile stuck to its traditional format. The competitions merged again in 1998 as the current National Rugby League, and the series that year proved to be enthralling as both sides won a game each a way 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 decade saw a dramatic series with each side taking one game each and game three ending in a draw. Queensland were awarded the series as at the time the previous winners retained the interstate honours.
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 on 11 June 2008, and also Game 3 on 2 July 2008. Queensland followed this up by winning the first two games of the 2009 series becoming the first state to win four series in a row.
Queensland won its historic, record breaking, fifth consecutive Origin series with a 34–6 win over New South Wales in the second match of 2010. Darren Lockyer was the man of the match. Prior to this particular match, Greg Inglis was subject to racial taunts by New South Wales assistant coach Andrew Johns, which ultimately led to his resignation and NSW player Timana Tahu walking out of the NSW team. Inglis went on to score the first try in the match. The 34–6 loss suffered by NSW led to them being labelled "the worst ever Blues team in history" whilst conversely Queensland were labelled "the greatest Origin team ever". Ironically though, after Queensland lost the first match in 2006 (despite this, they went on to win this series) they themselves were labelled the worst ever Queensland team, this suggestion was the turning point in their history, as they would go on to win an unprecedented record five consecutive Origin series. Queensland were able to beat New South Wales 23–18 in the third and final match of the State of Origin, 2010. This was the first Queensland team to win all three consecutive State of Origin Games in 15 years, the last whitewash in 1995, whose coach at the time was Paul Vautin, a former Queensland State of Origin player who played his last State of Origin game for Queensland 4 years earlier in 1991 and commentated on the historic match 15 years later with fellow Queensland State of Origin team mates and Channel 9 employees, Wally Lewis and Wendell Sailor. Qld full back Billy Slater won man of the match in the third game and was awarded the Wally Lewis Medal as Man of the Series in 2010.
The 2010 State of Origin series was also the second televised program in Australia to be shot in 3D 1080i DVB-T as well as being simultaneously broadcast in regular 576i and 1080i DVB-T and PAL.
In the first game of the 2011 series Queensland defeated New South Wales 16–12 with a late try from Billy Slater. In the second game of the 2011 series New South Wales defeated Queensland 18–8. Queensland won the series 34–24 in the 2011 decider in what was Queensland captain Darren Lockyer's 36th and final game. Cameron Smith won man of the match in both the first and third game and was awarded the Wally Lewis Medal as Man of the Series.
Under State of Origin rules players are selected for the state in which they first played senior (or registered) rugby league.[19] 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.[20] 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).
Another issue of contention has been the selection of players such as Peter Sterling, Ken Nagas, James McManus, Israel Folau and Greg Inglis. Folau was born and raised in New South Wales but is eligible to play for Queensland as he played his first senior Rugby League match in Queensland. Greg Inglis was born and raised in New South Wales and also played his first senior game in New South Wales (Newcastle Hunter) then shortly after playing in Queensland in the same competition. Ken Nagas was born and raised in Queensland but played for New South Wales, Peter Sterling was born in Toowoomba, Queensland and raised in Wagga Wagga, 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.
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[23], New South Wales Rugby League[24] and Queensland Rugby League[25]. 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'. Queensland won the shield on both occasions. Thus looking purely at full (3-match) Origin series, there have been 20 Queensland wins, 12 NSW wins and 2 draws.
Year | Winner/holder of shield | Wins | Losses | Drawn |
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1980 | Queensland | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1981 | 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 |
1987[26] | 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 |
2010 | Queensland | 3 | 0 | 0 |
2011 | Queensland | 2 | 1 | 0 |
In 1997 the rugby league premiership was split between the ARL and Super League. In addition to the ARL's State of Origin, a Super League Tri-series 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.
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