A State of Confusion

Often considered the pinnacle of Australian rugby league, State Of Origin is one of Australia’s premier sporting events, often played in front of sold-out stadiums. It’s the first State of Origin match tonight and so my Facebook wall has been bombarded with pledges and support for Queensland and a lot of ‘booing’ for anyone who supports NSW. Tonight also marks my first Origin party and although I’m not too proud to admit this, it will be the first time that I’ve ever watched a game!!

So in an effort not to embarrass myself in front of my friends, I have been studying up on the rules and game play today. Here are a few pointers for those of you who may be in the same boat as me...

Lesson 1 – Queensland has won the last six series and are going for their seventh in 2012
Lesson 2 – The players play ‘rugby league’ not ‘football’
Lesson 3 – This first match this year will be held in Victoria (but no one really knows why...)
Lesson 4 – The Queensland team has the unbecoming mascot of the cane toad
Lesson 5 – Unless you want to be made a laughing stock, supporting QLD is the only way to go
Lesson 6 – Kick off time is at 8.00pm and this is one of the most crucial events of the match
Lesson 7 – The largest ever recorded crowd was in the 2004 final with 204,309 spectators

So wish Queensland (and me) good luck for the match tonight and I’m sure I’ll cheer out of place more than a few times...