State of Origin

Don't worry dear readers, pics from Cairns are coming. However, I found a place in Canberra with free wireless that I can actually log onto. Plus, that place serves pancakes. So, tomorrow, I'm taking the laptop there and will post the pics and the like.

However, I feel I must talk about State of Origin. Mostly because it deals with sports, and that to an American, this whole idea is really weird for reaons I'll get into.

State of Origin is a rugby league match between Queensland and New South Wales. The plyers on the teams are from those two states. Hence, they play for their "state of origin."

State of Origin is huge. Its been discussed in the rugby league shows and websites for the past month. Players try to get selected for origin, as representing your state is a high honor.

In a way, its sort of an equivelent of an all-star game. Its the best players from a particular region. However, unlike all-star games back in the States which are usually laid back, exhibition matches, State of Origin is a fierce rivalry and its played with a great deal of passion and energy. No one takes the game lightly. As evidenced by the following pic.



A few things to keep in mind...the NRL season is in its 11th week, nearing the halway point. Origin was played Wednesday, week 11 starts Friday. No rest for the weary. Also, they play this game two more times, in the middle of the NRL season.

To use an example, this is like the best college football players from Texas and California getting together in mid-October for a clash to see whose supperior. They play the game Wednesday, and then go back to their campuses and play a regular game on Saturday. Could you imagine it if the NCAA instituted this? It would be insane, the idea would probably be ripped to shreds. Coaches would scream and yell about it.

Here, its a tradition and a well anticipated event. And, just like any other good rivalry, the two teams can't decide on the official record for State of Origin. Ironically, the United States (not exactly a rugby league hotbed) is involved.

In 1987, after Queensland topped NSW 2-1 in the series, the teams went to California to put on a show for the American public. Try to grow the game there a little bit. Queensland, having already won, took the match as an exhibition game. New South Wales on the other hand, wasn't to happy about losing the series and told its players to view this as the deciding match. The result was a 30-18 win for the Blues (New South Wales).

Now, the Australian Rugby Leauge and the two state rugby league bodies had decided that while the match would not count in the overall standings, it would count towards players stats. Then, after the match, the ARL said that it would count towards the overall standings. Just to add to the confusion, here are two quotes from the ARL President back in 1987.

'It's an exciting experiment but the match isn't and won't be billed as an exhibition match'."

"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind it was an exhibition game and should not count towards official match scores."

You can see where the confusion lies.

At any rate, the match last night was fantastic. NSW jumped out to a 18-6 lead at halftime, thanks in part to a fantastic try by Jarred Hayne just at the end of the first half. Hayne (an Eel, BTW. Go the Eels!) blocked a kick from Queensland at about midfield. It went off of him, but backwards, negating the possibility of a knock-on. He then collected the ball and sprinted down the sideline. Just as he was about to be knocked out of bounds he kicked the ball into play and gave chase. Hayne won the race to the ball, put it over the try line and put the ball down (got to do that for a try) to secure a thrilling four pointer, and increase the Blues lead.

But, the second half was all Queensland (nicknamed the Maroons) who scored a few brilliant tries as well as a rubbish one due soley to a horrible NSW mistake. Queensland had kicked the ball down field, but it was going to go into touch (out of bounds) for a 40/20 kick. (That is, a kick from behind Queensland's 40 metre line that goes out of bounds past the NSW 20 metre line. This results in a scrum feed for Queensland, and would have given them a great chance to score). So, the Blues player dives on the ball, and tries to keep it in play, so from the ground passes it to a teammate. The teammate wasn't ready for the pass, and it bounced past him. The Maroons scooped up the ball and scored a bizarre try that gave them the lead and ultimatley the 25-18 win.

It was an awesome game. You could feel the excitement in the crowd, and the level of play was excellent.