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State Of Origin
Blues v Maroons :: Cockroaches v Cane Toads
The State of Origin is the pinnacle of rugby league competition and is played every year between New South Wales and Queensland. About twelve billion viewers tune in to watch the best of three matches each season. There have been many brutal encounters between the two states since the inaugural one-off event in 1980. Billed as ‘State against state, Mate against mate’ these clashes generally don’t leave anything to the imagination.
The New South Wales team is known as either the Blues or the Cockroaches and the Queensland side is called the Maroons and the Cane Toads. Some of the best rugby league football has been displayed in these encounters. It’s one of the only times of the year you get to see team mates from the same club punching each other in the face. I can’t remember what year it was but I was at the State of Origin game where it was pouring rain at the Sydney Football Stadium and Michael O’Connor kicked a conversion from the sideline to win the game for New South Wales.
Arthur Beetson belted Mick Cronin about the head and shoulders in the first State of Origin game in 1980, despite the fact the two were Parramatta team mates the week before and the week after the game. Interstate rivalry really comes alive when New South Wales plays Queensland. Shop owners decorate their stores with either blue or maroon depending on what state they come from and everyone stops what they’re doing to watch the game on the TV.
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