Category: State Of Origin

Tickets are now on sale for all State Of Origin 2025 matches in both the men’s & women’s editions.

They went on sale at 10am Australian Eastern Daylight Time today (6th of February), though the announcement wasn’t made until 1pm.

This follows tickets going on sale for Game 2 of this year’s men’s edition, being held in Perth, Western Australia, going on sale in November last year. Only limited tickets remain for that match.

Game 1 of this rugby league aeries, held under State Of Origin selection rules (i.e. the state you 1st played rugby league in), between Australian states Queensland & New South Wales, will be held at Lang Park in Brisbane, Queensland on Thursday the 1st of May for the women’s edition & Wednesday the 28th of May for the men’s edition.

Game 1 of Women’s State of Origin 2025 is being supported by the Queensland Government via Tourism & Events Queensland & Brisbane City Council via the Brisbane Economic & Development Agency.

Game 2 of the women’s edition will be held at Sydney Football Stadium on Thursday the 15th of May. Game 3 of the men’s edition will be held at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Wednesday the 9th of July while for the women’s edition, it will be held at Hunter International Sports Centre, Newcastle on Thursday the 29th of May.

Tickets for the men’s edition, which start from AUD$49 for adults, AUD$39 for juniors (4-15) & AUD$139 for families, can be bought here. Tickets for the women’s edition start from AUD$19 for adults and AUD$39 for families & can be bought here.

Hospitality experiences for Game 3 of the men’s edition are still available & can be bought here having also been on sale since November last year, which is also when they also went on sale for all matches of Women’s State Of Origin & those are still all available and can be bought here.

State Of Origin 2025 begins at Lang Park, Brisbane, on Wednesday the 28th of May at 8:05pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). Women’s State Of Origin 2025 begins at the same location at 7:45pm AEST on Thursday the 1st of May.

New South Wales 2-1 Queensland (Series)

New South Wales 14-4 Queensland (Final Decider)

New South Wales (NSW) played gallantly, after a close but near-scoreless 1st half by both sides, to win the final State Of Origin decider & thus, the 2024 series.

The event begun just under 3 hours prior to kick-off, at sunset at 5:12pm, when the Story and Victoria Bridges, City Hall, the Tropical Dome & Reddacliff Place sculptures were all lit up maroon.

At 6pm, with an exhibition Queensland (QLD) RISE Academy under-15’s men’s rugby league match between North & South Brisbane. South Brisbane won 16-4.

At 7:15pm, the coin toss occurred & Queensland chose to kick-off.

The Nine Network, in their pre-match coverage, showed Brisbane’s Story Bridge lit up in maroon with match facts in front of it as well as a segment on inaugural women’s Olympic canoe slalom single’s gold medallist, Jessica Fox & her love of the NSW Blues. This segment was also broadcast, on a few minutes’ delay, inside Lang Park, the venue for Game 3 of the 2024 State Of Origin series.

At 7:30pm, the pre-match entertainment began with a light and pyrotechnic show. The State Of Origin shield was brought out by NSW & QLD rugby league juniors & their coaches before ‘The King’, former Queensland player, Wally Lewis, brought out the match ball. This all was in front of a stadium crowd of 52,457.

The New South Wales side then ran out onto the field where they met the Queensland side on the field, who ran out pass a ‘QLD’ flame sign.

The customary Welcome To Country ceremony, conducted by Ashley Ruska and performance of the National Anthem, sung by Ruva Ngwenya, then followed. A tribute & moment’s silence for David Morrow, rugby league radio commentator, who passed away today at the age of 71 concluded the pre-match ceremonies. A 10 second countdown to kick-off then started the main match.

Early in the game, Channel 9’s on-screen clock was not ticking over correctly for nearly half of the 1st half.

Anyway, to the actual sport. Despite no points being scored until the dying seconds of the 1st half, both sides played fiercely but New South Wales clearly had the upper hand the entire 1st half, with numerous close chances to score a try. With 37 seconds left on the clock, a brain fade by New South Wales player, Spencer Leniu, for tackling Queensland captain, Daly Cherry-Evans, after he clearly kicked the ball, gave Queensland the opportunity to score the first points by a penalty goal. Valentine Holmes successfully kicked the penalty goal.

Throughout the 1st half, tensions boiled over a couple of times leading to scuffles. In the 30th minute, tensions not just boiled over but erupted both on & off the field. Queensland captain, Daly-Cherry Evans & NSW 5/8th, Jerome Luai, started pushing each other’s face after the latter seemed to avoid grabbing the ball in order to target the former but the former pushed first. Queensland 2nd rower, Jeremiah Nanai, then pushed the two off the field, bringing even the bench in it – notably New South Wales’s 19th man, Haumole Olakau’atu, who was wearing a dinner suit & lock, Cameron Murray, who had recently been interchanged 4 minutes prior.

Daly Cherry-Evans was penalised for pushing Jerome Luai but the referees put into the sin bin for 10 minutes Nanai, Murray AND Olakau’atu for their melee, giving the latter the notable distinction of the 1st player in rugby league history to be sin binned without playing in the match! All 3 were in the bin until the 2nd half except for Olakau’atu, who was also banned from any post-match celebrations on-field if New South Wales won, which they eventually did.

Murray’s sin bin was from the interchange bench, so someone had to be removed off the field, which the referee gave to New South Wales’ s discretion.

At half-time, the score was 2-0 in favour of Queensland.

During half-time, a Little Origin match was held.

The 2nd half began with Queensland dominating but New South Wales quickly returned to take the crown and keep it. In the 44th minute, Queensland centre Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow blocked NSW winger, Zac Lomax, from having a fair attempt at the ball, which had just been kicked on the final tackle. NSW was awarded a penalty goal attempt, which Lomax successfully scored, making it anyone’s series once again.

The game was still fierce, tense but still with NSW keeping their return to dominance. In the 60th minute, NSW hooker, Reece Robson, wasn’t square when facing against his opposite, Harry Grant as well as clearly grabbing his face in an attempt to tackle him. The referee awarded QLD a penalty goal attempt, which Valentine Holmes successfully kicked, putting QLD back in the lead again by 2 points despite clear NSW dominance.

4 minutes later, the straw that broke the camel’s back for Queensland. New South Wales 5/8th, Jerome Luai, found a gap in QLD’s defence and stormed 35 minutes up the field before passing it to NSW Centre, Bradman Best, who, after juggling the ball, managed to run up the very edge of the field while fending off 2 Queenslanders to score the 1st try of the night – 64 minutes after kick-off – and which was also the series winning try, which was also converted. NSW now led by 4 points.

3 minutes later, NSW halfback, Mitchell Moses, made a gap in QLD’s defence 15 metres out to confirm the series win. NSW increased their lead to 10 points.

By the 78th minute, QLD were exhausted and NSW sadly, made one of the greatest matches of State Of Origin history led to a disappointing conclusion by running out the clock for the last 90 seconds. It was full-on for 78 minutes and then both teams stopped – one understandably tired but still trying their best and the other avoiding play in any meaningful form to avoid any extremely unluckiness in the final 90 seconds.

The successful conversions were kicked by Valentine Holmes for Queensland & Zac Lomax for New South Wales.

At full time, the final score for the final game was New South Wales 14-4 Queensland & the final score for the 2024 series was New South Wales 2-1 Queensland.

It was the 3rd time NSW had won a final decider at Lang Park, the last time being 19 years ago in 2005.

NSW fullback, Dylan Edwards, was Player of the Match, who was given his medal as part of the Channel 9’s broadcast rather than part of the formal series presentation. It was presented by Channel 9’s rugby league reporter & former NSW 5/8th, Allana Ferguson.

To a near-empty Lang Park, the series presentation followed on a stage in the field’s centre with James Bracey as Master Of Ceremonies & Wally ‘The King‘ Lewis, Queensland rugby league great, Peter V’landys, Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman, Bruce Hatcher, Queensland Rugby League Chairman, Paul Condon, New South Wales Rugby League Chairman and Andrew Abdo, Chief Executive Officer of the National Rugby League.

The winner of the Wally Lewis Medal, awarded to the player of the series by Wally Lewis, was then announced as Angus Crichton.

Ooo!

Ah, I like to say thank you very much to Queensland, um, great series.

Thank you to all the coaches for believing in us & giving us the chance to come up here and do something special, uh.

Thank you to my family, my beautiful partner, Chloe & thank you to my teammates.

Boys, it’s coming home! Chick-a-woo!

Angus Crichton, New South Wales rugby league player

As most of the crowd, who were Queenslanders, left in an unsportsman-like manner by not watching the series presentation, it only left New South Welshmen in attendance, thus when the QLD captain, Daly Cherry-Evans, was invited to the stage, he was greeted by one of the loudest boos he would ever hear as a Queensland rugby league player at the team’s home ground.

Yeah, look, first of all, congratulations, ahm, too good tonight fellas, um. It’s been a cracking series so well done and enjoy, uh.

Thank you to everyone whose come through, not to tonight but every single game, uhm, all 3 games had amazing fans, amazing support from both sides & thank you very much for that, um.

Last much but not least, we’ve gotta thank, uh, Bill, the staff & all of the teammates. It’s not, not our year this year boys but that’s footy. We’ll be back again so take it all in, uh.

Last but not least, thank you to the families, uh. We spend a lot of time away from home, but we know how much love & support we got from you so thank you.

Cheers guys!

Daly Cherry-Evans, Queensland captain

I just wanna start by, um, saying thanks to, thanks to Queensland. Billy, cheers, um. You’re great competitors. It was a hell of a series so thanks a lot guys, really appreciate it, um.

Secondly, I just want to, to ‘Madge’ & um, the boys over there, just it’s been, honestly, the greatest 6 weeks. Greatest 6 weeks. It’s been a hell of a ride, um (chuckles) yeah, um. It’s been really, really special so just really enjoy the night & we really, really deserve this so good on ya, boys & um, I’ve got to thank Westpac & our sponsor family so thanks for getting behind us & to all our families over there, um, appreciate everything. You’ve been along for the journey so thanks so much & uh, last but not least, uh, to the Blatchey’s Blues for following us everywhere.

Thanks heaps, guys.

Jake Trbojevic, New South Wales captain

Peter V’landys then presented the State Of Origin Shield to Jake Trbojevic, who brought the Shield to the centre of the gathering NSW team in front of the stage before lifting it up in victory as flamethrowers lit up the stage & around the sidelines. The NSW staff & the team’s families then came to join in the celebrations. That was State Of Origin 2024.

Until next year!

New South Wales 38-18 Queensland

A dominant New South Wales side scored 6 consecutive tries to achieve victory in Game 2 of State Of Origin 2024, taking the series to a final decider.

Over in Brisbane, Story and Victoria Bridges, City Hall, the Tropical Dome & Reddacliff Place sculptures were all lit up maroon from sunset at 5:03pm.

Back in Melbourne, the event begun just under 2.5 hours prior to kick-off, at 5:40pm, with an exhibition Combined All-Schools under-18’s boys’ rugby league match between Silver & Blue. Silver won 30-28.

At 7:15pm was the coin toss before at 7:30pm, the pre-match entertainment began. A light and pyrotechnic show introduced Indigenous performances before the State Of Origin Shield was brought out onto the field by NSW & QLD children. The Temper Trap then performed with their iconic song, Sweet Disposition, televised. 4-time basketball Aussie Olympian, Patty Mills, then brought out the match ball. After the spectators were encouraged to cheer out the slogans of their respective teams, the pre-match entertainment concluded with pyrotechnics for the stadium crowd of 90,084 and the multi-million sized TV audience.

The Queensland side then ran out onto the field past flame signs saying ‘QLD’ before the New South Wales side ran out onto the field through a banner past ‘NSW’ flame signs.

The customary Welcome To Country, conducted by Aunty Joy Murphy and performance of the National Anthem, sung by Sheridan Adams, then immediately preceded the main match,

Anyway, to the game. Light rain at kick-off but after 10 minutes, it led to heavy falls of 6 NSW tries, with all but 1 converted. Completed dominating the first half, with a short pause for Jerome Luai to put on a shoe that fell off, NSW’s series of converted tries began with Liam Martin finding a hole in Queensland’s defence to open the Blues’ account. From his reaction, which repeated with every NSW try scorer, NSW was pumped up. 7 minutes later, Brian To’o squeezed into the left corner to reach 12-0. In the 23rd minute, Zac Lomax reached for the heavens for a kick on the final tackle to score NSW’s 3rd try, which he didn’t convert.

In the 24th minute, NSW dragged Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow over the tryline, resulting in a shoulder injury. Whilst initially looking dislocated, he only need a brief break and some painkillers before returning to the field. However, a few minutes later, he went back off the field into the changing rooms and didn’t return.

With Jerome Luai’s shoes fitted back on, a kick through Queensland’s defence by Mitchell Moses towards the left corner in the 26th minute saw Brian To’o score his 2nd try increasing NSW’s lead to 22 points. This try, in hindsight, sealed the victory for NSW.

To cap it off, in his 1st State Of Origin match since 2021, Latrell Mitchell ran with the ball from the 10-metre mark to score another try for NSW increasing the lead to 28 points. A lapse in QLD’s wing defence on NSW’s right side saw the 1st half conclude with a 6th try for NSW scored once again by Zac Lomax, who didn’t miss the conversion this time.

At half-time, the score was 34-0 in favour of New South Wales. This was the largest lead ever in the 1st half of a State Of Origin match.

During half-time, a Little Origin match was held.

Queensland returned to form in the 2nd half but couldn’t match New South Wales’s 1st half performance. A grapple on Queensland captain, Daly Cherry-Evans, by Stephen Crichton, 9 minutes into the 2nd half saw tensions boil over with the referee giving both teams a warning of a potential sin bin, which was disregarded less than 30 seconds later (in game time), resulting in a 10-minute sin bin of 1 player for both teams. In this case, Liam Martin (NSW), the instigator, who pushed Jaydn Su’A’s head & Patrick Carrigan (QLD), the 5th Queenslander to respond to Martin but the one most in sight of the referee & the only one who had a tight grip on Martin in response.

In the 53rd minute, Queensland’s Jeremiah Nanai managed to push through the NSW defence to score Queensland’s opening try. In the 2nd half, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow surprisingly returned to the field and 5 minutes after Nanai’s try, made his return count, hammering through the NSW defence to catch a 3rd tackle kick to dive near the goalposts to decrease Queensland’s deficit to a still distant 22 points.

To remind Queensland who is still winning, New South Welshmen, Dylan Edwards, on debut, shimmied for 10 metres in the 61st minute through the Queensland defence to score what was NSW’s final try for the night. An massive hole in NSW’s wing defence appeared 6 minutes later allowing Murray Taulagi to score a final consolation try for Queensland after NSW’s record-breaking 1st half. The remaining 12 minutes were uneventful, given NSW were going to be clear winners, though both sides never gave up in attempting to add tries to their scoresheet.

The final score was New South Wales 38-18 Queensland.

All successful conversions were kicked by Valentine Holmes for Queensland & Zac Lomax for New South Wales.

At the end of the match, Channel 9 celebrated the series being levelled by showing a drone shot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge & Opera House with computer-generated blue fireworks exploding around the shot & a blue-tinted box appearing saying ‘NSW Levels The Series’ in blue.

Mitchell Moses was player of the match.

After the match, Queensland coach, Billy Slater, confirmed Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow had suffered an AC shoulder joint injury.

I think the whole dressing room in there is pretty disappointed, so it was a tough old first half, um. (loudly separates lips) It just felt like we were running uphill & we couldn’t stop the, the momentum of the game & um, you know, part of that is on us so you know, we’ll look at our game & work out what we need to adjust & what we need to go after & I think I do know is there’s another game in 3 weeks’ time.

I thought the first 8-9 minutes, it was a, (sharply inhales) a bit of a tussle & then New South Wales got a, (sharply inhales) a snowball of possession & ummm, (loudly separates lips), you know, we held them out for a few sets & and they broke & um, got a try & yeah, just sort of went downhill from there.

It’s a tough game to play. It’s a lot tougher when you’re tired so, um, like I said, it snowballed against the team & we just couldn’t stop it.

Yeah, I thought the 2nd half was quite good, um. (notably separates lips audibly) I’m not sure what the 2nd half score was but, um, I thought our actions, the way we started the 2nd half, we (sharply inhales) went after our footy a little bit more, um. We were a little bit more patient, uh. We weren’t looking for (sharply inhales) any shortcuts to, to draw back the scoreline, um, you know, so, yeah, it’s a positive in the 2nd half but um, yeah, yeah, there was too many things in that 1st half on our behalf that, you know, we didn’t do as well as we would have liked &, uhm, we all know that.

I think it was nearly 70-30 possession in that 1st half & you know, the scoreline, the scoreline reflected that so, um, any individuals’ its’ going to be hard for them so that, that’s where we are with that.

Queensland coach, Billy Slater

Yeah, I mean, uh, you know, making sure that I, um, credit the guys that have been in, you know, in the 1st campaign like you, you don’t know what could, could happen in that game obviously, um, but you know, Mitch has come in and he did what I believe he is capable of doing and I think what we all thought he was capable of doing. You know, he kicked well & I thought he’d jumped into the campaign straight up when he 1st walked in, uh. He was strong with the way he, he wanted to, uh, play the game but everyone just jumped on board and did their jobs. Um, I think all of them, & I mean, I mean not just Mitch but Dylan Edwards out the back, I thought he was excellent. He has just, just shown that he’s an Origin player and I said that from day 1 when I first picked him.

You know, Rome. He did his job but I thought, I thought someone like Payne Haas & Jake, they laid the platform so, you know, we’ll. They all just jumped in together & made sure that they played their part for the team which is something there they have spoken about as a group, you know & what they want to be able to achieve so we got to take that forward now.

New South Wales coach, Micheal Maguire

It is now all on the line in Game 3, which will be held at Brisbane’s Lang Park on Wednesday, July 17 at 8:05pm AEST & the deciding finale of an equalising 3-game Women’s State Of Origin series is on tomorrow (Thursday 27th June) at 7:45pm at North Queensland Stadium in Townsville.

Queensland 38-10 New South Wales

A send off for New South Wales in the 8th minute following a dangerous tackle on Queensland’s Reece Walsh by New South Wales’s Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i ensured Queensland dominated Game 1 of State Of Origin 2024 to lead the series 1-0.

State Of Origin 2024 begun with Brisbane’s Story and Victoria Bridges, City Hall, the Tropical Dome & Reddacliff Place sculptures all lit up maroon from sunset at 5:01pm. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was also illuminated blue but for only 15 minutes from 5:45pm, before ‘flagship’ Sydney Spectacular, Vivid Sydney, started at 6pm. Also at that time, at Sydney’s Stadium Australia, the venue for Game 1 of State Of Origin 2024, an Under-15’s New South Wales RISE Boys exhibition rugby league match between Sky Blues & Navy Blues was held. Navy Blues won 40-4. At 7:15pm, the coin toss for the main match was held. New South Wales called it correctly & chose to kick off. Then, at 7:30pm, a New South Wales Blues flag display & marching band performed on the field before a light & pyrotechnic show got the main game ball brought out by 7-time surfing World Champion, Layne Beachley, who was greeted by a Blue Heeler. New South Wales Origin greats, Paul Gallen, Trent Hodkinson & Josh Reynolds, then brought the State Of Origin shield out onto the ground. The Final Countdown by Europe then played to a light show before the team line-ups were introduced to the crowd via the screens around the stadium.

The New South Wales side then walked from their Centre Of Excellence across the road through the former athlete transfer tunnel from The Games of the XXVIIth Olympiad: Sydney 2000 to Stadium Australia where they ran past flame signs saying ‘NSW’ & through a banner, where they met the Queensland side on the field, who came from the stadium’s changing rooms. The customary Welcome To Country, conducted this match by Savannah Flynn, and performance of the National Anthem, performed this match with guitar by Australian Idol 2024 winner, Dylan Wright, then followed before a countdown on the big screens signalled the approach to kick-off.

Anyway, to the game. It started just under 4 minutes late. Queensland opened the scoring with a converted try in the 4th minute by Ben Hunt. 3 minutes later, Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i dangerously tackled Reece Walsh, knocking him clean out. Reece Walsh didn’t have the ball at the time of the tackle, having just passed it after been in possession of it only momentarily. Reece Walsh was immediately found by sideline doctors to be suffering from Category 1 symptoms of a head injury, resulting in him being immediately ruled out from the rest of the match. Once his condition improved, he was later formally interchanged & Queensland’s brought into the interchange their 18th man. The referee had significant decisions to make too, producing a shock, though unsurprisingly given how the tackle was played even if the outcome was accidental. He sent off Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i for the entire match, only the 6th time to ever happen in a State Of Origin match, the 3rd in a year & the fastest ever in State Of Origin history, beating the previous record by just over 50 minutes. New South Wales was now down a man. Queensland were also awarded a penalty goal as a result, which was kicked by Valentine Holmes, expanding Queensland’s lead by 2 points.

5 minutes later, a kick from Jerome Luai across the field under the Queensland defence allowed James Tedesco to find a gap to ground the unpossessed ball over the tryline to open New South Wales’s account in the 2024 series. His try was converted, narrowing Queensland’s lead to just 2 points. There was hope for New South Wales but over the next 10 minutes, every 5 minutes, Queensland easily found massive holes in New South Wales’s defence (being a man down doesn’t help) allowing Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to score 2 easy tries, expanding the lead to 14 points. The rest of the half was uneventful apart from the announcement that Reece Walsh had passed a head injury assessment but as he was initially suffering Category 1 symptoms, renewed play on the field is not risked so he stayed in the dressing rooms. At half-time, the score was 20-6 in favour of Queensland.

During half-time, a Little Origin match was held.

New South Wales went in the 2nd half putting the send-off behind them. This attitude initially paid dividends when Zac Lomax reached for the heavens to score an unconverted try just 3 minutes into the half. Despite the missed conversion, New South Wales had renewed hope, with their deficit reduced to 10 points. They were now in total commitment for 23 minutes despite being unable to find the tryline & Queensland having 2 try attempts being ruled ‘No Try’ during that time period. Then the straw that broke the camel’s back: New South Wales’ defence barely held onto Ben Hunt, who ran the final 20 metres to score a converted try for Queensland in the 66th minute. This was followed in the next 13 minutes with 2 more converted tries, 1 from Xavier Coates, who leaped for the boundary, after Daly Cherry-Evans kicked the ball 25 metres out, to score before the ball went dead and a 3rd from Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, running 20 metres from the tryline after Queensland broke through theoretically a 1-man defence from New South Wales, giving him a hat-trick & Queensland the win in Game 1 of the 3-game series.

All successful conversions were kicked by Valentine Holmes for Queensland & Nicholas Hynes for New South Wales.

The final score was Queensland 38-10 New South Wales, in front of a crowd of 77,214. It was Queensland’s biggest victory ever in Sydney. Player of the match was Daly Cherry-Evans. Queensland is now just 1 win away from a 2024 series victory. The Story Bridge in Brisbane shone maroon the rest of the night.

Yeah, (pretty had to recover from that) playing at this level, uhm, playing with 12.

I thought ‘You know, we put ourselves actually in positions at times where, you know, we were quite dominant but, um, I guess, you know, fatigue comes in at some stage but, uh, you know, playing along the game then, you know, when you’re playing sort of with a man down, it’s, uh, you got to sort of really try and bury the opposition into the corners and, you know, fatigue finds you at some stage, um, but, you know, I am actually really super proud of their efforts if I say’. Look, individuals are out on their feet, um, yeah, so, it, it made it a bit tough but, you know, 1 thing I do know about this, this group: They’ve really shifted the dime on where they see & how hard they want to work, uh, for the jersey so that’s something there that we will, you know, continue to push going forward.

Michael Maguire, New South Wales Blues coach

The team’s adapted to adversity the last 3 years. Um, you know you think back to last year, you know, Adelaide. We, we had both our wingers go off the field. We had centres playing in on, on the wing. We had, you know, David Fifita playing in the centres. Ben Hunt was playing in the centres. The team’s been accustomed to adapt to adversity & um, that’s no different to tonight. Um, you know, I thought ‘Hammer’ (Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow) was great just slipping back into that fullback position & everyone else. Felise Kaufusi came on the field and done a great job, you know.

His (Daly Cherry-Evans) preparation for his team was great & uh, we have got so much room. We have got so much to go with our footy. Uh, I thought we were so far off with our footy tonight, um, but that’s, that’s all to come.

Billy Slater, Queensland Maroons coach

Game 2 will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday, June 26 at 8:05pm AEST & Game 2 of an expanded 3-game Women’s State Of Origin, which New South Wales is leading, is tomorrow (Thursday 6th June) at 7:45pm at Hunter Stadium.

On the 9th of November last year, tickets were released for State Of Origin 2024: Game 2 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria.

The match will be held on Wednesday the 26th of June at 8:05pm AEST.

Tickets can be purchased via Ticketek and cost:

• Diamond: Allocation Exhausted
• Tryzone: Allocation Exhausted
• Playmaker: Allocation Exhausted
• Gold Or No Alcohol: AUD$149 per adult, AUD$139 per junior/concession & AUD$428.95 per family*
• Silver: AUD$89 per adult, AUD$79 per junior/concession & AUD$249 per family*
• Bronze: AUD$59 per adult, AUD $49 per junior/concession & AUD$159 per family*
• Restricted View: AUD$25 per adult & AUD$70 per family*

*2 adults & 2 juniors

Hospitality packages including dining & cocktail functions are also available here.

Australia’s biggest rugby league match will be played in Australia’s biggest stadium, as the MCG hosts the decisive 2nd game of the 2024 State of Origin series. We’re proud to bring this iconic contest back to the MCG & welcoming fans from near and far to enjoy Melbourne’s vibrant hospitality, retail and hotel sectors.

Steve Dimopoulos, Victorian Minister For Tourism, Sport & Major Events

On 6th August last year, it was announced that Perth Stadium in Perth, Western Australia (WA) will host a State Of Origin match in both 2025 & 2028.

This is in line with the event’s policy of 1 neutral venue & 1 home venue for each of the States (New South Wales (NSW) & Queensland) in the 3-match series.

The sponsored name of the venue is Optus Stadium.

Later this year, Melbourne in Victoria will host the neutral round of State Of Origin, which it will also host in 2026.

Perth Stadium has hosted a State Of Origin match before in both 2019 & 2022, the only times Perth has hosted a State Of Origin match, with crowds of 59,721 & 59,358 respectively.

Australian Rugby League Commissioner, The Honourable Kate Jones said the Commission wanted to continue to provide a strong footing for the sport in WA:

State Of Origin in Perth has been an outstanding success & we’re delighted to be able to continue this partnership with the Western Australian Government.

There is already strong support for rugby league in Western Australia & our ongoing commitment to grow the game in areas outside of rugby league heartlands will ensure even more people are attracted to the game by the biggest sporting rivalry in the country. 

We are privileged to bring State Of Origin back to Perth & I’d like to thank Premier, Roger Cook, Deputy Premier and Tourism Minister, Rita Saffioti & the Western Australian Government for their ongoing support of rugby league.

The Honourable Kate Jones, Australian Rugby League Commissioner

Being able to host 2 more State Of Origin clashes is another great win for tourism & sport within WA plus an awesome opportunity to showcase our state across Australia.

The WA Government continues to bring major sporting & tourism events to our shores with the award-winning Optus Stadium once again taking centre stage.

Rita Saffioti, WA Deputy Premier & Tourism Minister

It is a great endorsement for rugby league to secure the support of the WA Government to host the game’s showpiece in Perth in 2025 and 2028 & a strong indication of the appetite for the game in the west & while it is a neutral venue, the Blues, with the strong support of The Star Blatchys fans, are thrilled at the prospect of returning to Perth where we have great memories of this ground, experiencing success at the debut Perth game in 2019 and again in 2022.

Brad Fittler, NSW Blues Coach

State Of Origin 2025 & 2028 are supported by the WA Government through their tourism agency, Tourism WA. 

Queensland 2-1 New South Wales (Series)

New South Wales 24-10 Queensland (Final Game)

New South Wales scored 4 tries to win at home in the final game of State Of Origin 2023 as Queensland lift the Shield with a 2-1 series victory.

Over in Brisbane, Story and Victoria Bridges, City Hall, Sandgate Town Hall, the Tropical Dome & Reddacliff Place sculptures were all lit up maroon from sunset at 5:09pm.

Back in Sydney, the event begun just over 2 hours prior to kick-off, at 5:50pm, with an exhibition New South Wales RISE Academy under-15’s men’s rugby league match between RISE Blue & RISE Navy. RISE Blue won 28-6.

The Nine Network, in the pre-match coverage, again showed the team line-ups with pre-recorded footage of the respective states’ iconic bridges in the background lit up in their team’s colours, complete with computer-generated fireworks. The pre-recorded footage (despite claiming it was live) of the Sydney Harbour Bridge lit up blue completely was shown again later.

A surprise drone show over Sydney Showground featured in the lead-up to the match, broadcast on TV on delay (so it started before 7:18pm). It only featured the non-sponsored State of Origin logo in horizontal form (brand image to the left, the words ‘State of Origin‘ in blue to the right). More pre-recorded drone show footage was shown again later (and thus, finished no later than 7:35pm).

Then at 7:30pm, the pre-match entertainment began. Indigenous performances & a light and pyrotechnic show featuring New Zealand’s biggest band, SIX60, featured. The latter opened with a Maori performance, followed by SIX60‘s 2011 song, Don’t Forget Your Roots, which again featured Maori performances including a mid-song haka. This all was in front of a stadium crowd of 75,342 (a new record for a ‘dead rubber’ State Of Origin match) and the multi-million sized TV audience (though the Indigenous performances only featured in the broadcast background & the rest of SIX60‘s set not being televised).

The New South Wales side then walked from their Centre Of Excellence across the road through the former athlete transfer tunnel from The Games of the XXVIIth Olympiad: Sydney 2000 to Stadium Australia where they met the Queensland side on the field, who came from the stadium’s changing rooms.

The customary Welcome To Country, conducted by Aunty Kerrie Kenton and performance of the National Anthem, sung by Courtney Monsma, then immediately preceded the main match,

Anyway, to the game. Queensland took the upper hand at the start with their only converted try scored by David Fifita in the 11th minute.

Brian To’o saved New South Wales from complete domination by diving into the corner a few minutes later to score the 1st unconverted try for New South Wales in the game.

The lack of conversion was quickly reprieved 3 minutes later when New South Wales received a penalty due to Queensland’s Harry Grant tackling in mid-air after a Mitchell Moses kick. They took the penalty’s opportunity to score a field goal which levelled the scores.

A couple of minutes later, Josh Addo-Carr ensured Queensland won’t have the upper hand again for the rest of the series by showcasing his speed & kicking skills in a classic unconverted try.

New South Wales debutant, Bradman Best, met the Origin challenge by backing up Addo-Carr a few minutes later to score his debut Origin try, which was converted, to lead by 10 points.

It looked like New South Wales was going to storm to victory, but Queensland’s Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow reminded them that Queensland doesn’t give up victory without a fight by finding a gap in New South Wales’s defence & to the best of his ability with the space available, recreate Josh Addo-Carr’s try except with a low kick along the ground, to score what would end up being Queensland’s last unconverted try of the series.

A minute before half-time, New South Wales received another penalty thanks again to Harry Grant who crowded the ruck. They used the penalty to score a field goal to add an extra 2-point buffer.

At half-time, the score was 18-10 in favour of New South Wales.

During half-time, a Little Origin match was held between Sacred Heart Mount Druitt & Cessnock Public School.

The 2nd half was fairly even but as time went on, the more likely a New South Wales victory in the game was assured. It began with a couple of arguments after a few minutes & then, around the 60-minute mark, there was a flurry of try attempts by both sides but all were unsuccessful.

Then, in the 64th minute, James Tedesco found a gap ‘in Queensland’s defence and ran to the try line. When confronted with Queensland’s fullback, he quickly passed at the last minute to Bradman Best who made the rest of the journey with no obstacles in the way to score his 2nd Origin try on debut, which was converted. He celebrated with Josh Addo-Carr with dancing. New South Wales now felt assured of victory leading by 14 points.

The rest of the 2nd half was evenly poised though around the 70-minute mark, Queensland had a few unsuccessful try attempts to leave open the potential for a reduced deficit in the game.

5 minutes before full-time, a couple of pitch invaders appeared, which security apprehended & 2 minutes before half-time, Josh Addo-Carr suffered a hamstring injury requiring an interchange with Clint Gutherson.

All successful conversions were kicked by Stephen Crichton for New South Wales & Valentine Holmes for Queensland.

At full time, the final score for the final game was New South Wales 24-10 Queensland & the final score for the 2023 series was Queensland 2-1 New South Wales.

The series presentation followed on a stage in the field’s centre with James Bracey as Master Of Ceremonies & Wally ‘The King‘ Lewis, Queensland rugby league great, Andrew Abdo, Chief Executive Officer of the National Rugby League and Brent Merrick, Ampol Executive General Manager of International & New Business waiting on the stage.

New South Wales coach, Brad Fittler, was invited onto the stage to award the Player of the Match medal, which was awarded to Cody Walker.

The winner of the Wally Lewis Medal, awarded to the player of the series by Wally Lewis, was then announced as Reuben Cotter.

Um, firstly, ah, congrats to New South Wales. Um, congrats to our boys. Ah, it’s been a, you know, a great series. I’ve loved every moment, ah, with youse, in camp.

Um, (breathes deeply) I just want to say thanks to all the Queensland supporters for coming out tonight… (crowd cheers) …& to the 5 million back home, uh, watching. Uh, thanks, thanks for supporting ma-, us all the way through & thanks to the coaching staff. Abuntoo!

Reuben Cotter, Queensland rugby league player

Uh, firstly, I just want to thank, uh, the Queensland boys for the series. Um, they were f-, too good for us the 1st 2 games, um, so congratulations to you boys. Thanks for the series. Oh, thanks all the fans – the New South Wales fans for coming out tonight. Um, we wanted to get some pride back into the jersey & get a win for you so really glad we could, um, though disappointed to lose the 1st 2 but want to thank my team, the staff, the series. Obviously wasn’t, uh, how we wanted to go – going down the 1st 2 games but, um, we fought hard tonight for a win so, uhm, we look forward to next year. Thanks guys.

James Tedseco, New South Wales captain

Yeah, look, I just want to take the time to thank all of the hard work that goes putting this stuff on. All of the corporate partners, the administrators, Queensland Rugby League, thank you so much for getting this on. It’s always a pleasure to play in such, such a big stage.

I want to thank ‘The Blues’ for the series. It’s been a tough series regardless of the result. Theys…These guys played fair all the way, made it a tough series & we had to work every bit of it so thank you very much for ‘The Blues’.

I want to thank everyone that’s come here tonight in particular you Queensland fans… (crowd cheers) …& as Reuben touched on, there’s 5 million of us sitting at home in Queensland. I hope youse enjoy this moment that’s coming up. It’s all for you.

Last but not least, the playing group & the footy staff. It’s been a hell of a lot of hard work gone into this but as Reub said boys, it’s something special here. Enjoy the moment. Abuntoo boys. Let’s go!

Daly Cherry-Evans, Queensland captain

Wally Lewis, Andrew Abdo & Brent Merrick then presented the State Of Origin Shield to Daly Cherry-Evans, who immediately lifted it up to the cheers of the crowd as flamethrowers lit up the stage. The former three people moved out the way for the rest of the Queensland team and staff who gathered around the Shield as Queen‘s iconic song, We Are The Champions, played. Ground fireworks exploded behind the stage as Queensland cheered in victorious glory while their families joined them on stage. That was State Of Origin 2023.

Until next year!

With less than 24 hours to go until the final game of the 2023 State Of Origin rugby league series, a “difficult but necessary” media obligation boycott as part of an industrial dispute regarding a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for their players looks set to affect its broadcasts & journalism of the match.

This was decided unanimously at a meeting of the Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) last Tuesday night (4th of July) that contained over 50 player “leaders” & was announced by the Rugby League Players’ Association at a press conference at Novotel Sydney Darling Harbour last Wednesday afternoon.

It was in response to an “ultimatum” presented to them by the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) on behalf of National Rugby League (NRL), Australia & New Zealand’s professional franchise rugby league competition, which is a separate event series to State Of Origin but is tied very closely, logistically & on sporting terms. It should be noted most, but not all, of the matters in dispute detailed below do not directly affect State Of Origin but rather the NRL competition.

The “ultimatum” involved the ARLC & NRL “taking away” players’ medical information “rights”, ‘exploiting’ their property, ‘controlling’ how ‘the players’ money’ is spent on player funds and benefits & ‘making’ players pay for insurances that “don’t benefit” them.

With the ultimatum not acceptable by the RLPA, CBA negotiations have come to a halt as a result.

The players will abandon all media obligations tomorrow regarding State Of Origin including preview stories, interviews in the broadcasts before, after and at half time of the match as well as press conferences before & after the match.

However, they will still produce content for Queensland & New South Wales Rugby League.

The ARLC, whose Chairman Peter V’landys is on leave, have met to discuss next steps, which are still unclear. The ARLC & NRL released a statement last Wednesday evening saying they are “disappointed” as well as making “corrections” to the RLPA announcement and stating certain facts of their proposal. The full statement can be found at the bottom of this article.

Broadcasters have declined to comment.

As far as we are aware, this is the 1st industrial dispute ever to affect a flagship Sydney Spectacular. For more information, there is a Frequently Asked Questions page found here on the RLPA website.

The final game of State Of Origin 2023 will be held tonight at 8:05pm at Stadium Australia, Sydney.

The players have unanimously decided to take action in response to the current impasse in collective bargaining negotiations with the NRL & ARLC.

Recently, the RLPA submitted a proposal to the NRL and ARLC that is fair, contains numerous concessions by players & does not ask for a single dollar more than what had already been agreed upon. Unfortunately, the NRL and ARLC responded with changes that deviated so significantly from our proposal that they restricted the rights of players to an unacceptable level. They also made it clear that their response was non-negotiable & not open for discussion.

I want to emphasise the gravity of the situation we find ourselves in today. We are witnessing a disappointing breakdown in negotiations & a blatant disregard for the rights and welfare of our players. This is a clear attempt to intimidate players into a deal that undermines their rights, their voice and their control over their own careers & players agree unanimously that they will not roll over to union-busting tactics such as what we are witnessing.

That is why, from Thursday 6 July, our players will be boycotting all broadcast & media engagements on days when…State of Origin matches are scheduled. This includes pre-match, half-time & post-match interviews as well as press conferences & other media opportunities.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge the strength and courage of our players…who continue to break barriers and pave the way for future generations. As a woman in a leadership role within rugby league, I understand the significance of their presence & the importance of their voices being heard. Our sport, our players & our fans deserve better. We stand with them & we urge the NRL and ARLC to do the same.

Doctor Deidre Anderson AM, RLPA Board Chair

As the CEO of the Rugby League Players’ Association, I want to add to the Chair’s message and provide further context.

I would like to thank the recent facilitator of the negotiations for his dedication to achieving a good outcome for all. However, negotiations now require a different approach, but his contribution is greatly appreciated.

This issue hits home for me on a personal level. I have lived and breathed this sport; as a fan, player and administrator for as long as I can remember. I understand the sacrifices our players make and the risks they take every time they step onto the field. Their careers can be fleeting, and they deserve to have their rights and welfare protected.

Over the 20 past months, we have seen a disturbing pattern of behaviour from the…ARLC. What we have seen is a failure to respect the role of the players’ representative body, erosion of fundamental player rights & attempts to buy off players without understanding this CBA is about so much more than money. They have failed to honour their commitments in providing a CBA everyone can be proud of – one that respects the players’ irreplaceable role. They did not properly disclose financial information and payments owed to the players & disregarded their collective concerns. The players have shown tremendous patience & goodwill throughout this process, but their trust & resolve have been tested time & time again.

I want to be clear that we have been forced into this position & importantly our issue is not with the media. Unfortunately, unless we were prepared to fail in our obligations to appropriately represent & protect our members, the only choice we are left with is to take action. It’s important to understand that this action will be seen by some players as not hard enough, but for now, this is considered appropriate action given the NRLs’ take it or leave it position, which now rewinds much of the good outcomes we were optimistic about securing.

We must also remember not to let this dispute overshadow the connection between the players & the fans. While there is no game without players, there is no profession without fans. Fans are the lifeblood of this game & our players are dedicated to playing for them and providing the entertainment they deserve. They have a deep connection with the community because they too, all started their journey as a fan.

We entered into negotiations with the hope of reaching a fair & reasonable agreement that addresses the needs & interests of all players. We made concessions, we engaged in good faith & we presented a settlement proposal that did not ask for a single dollar more than what had already been agreed upon. Yet, the NRL responded with over 100 changes that would have sent players backward in many key areas. This response was unacceptable with clear erosion of player rights, including taking away player rights (medical information), exploiting their player property, controlling how players spend their money on player funds and benefits, increase the amount of matches played without player agreement & making players pay for things they shouldn’t have to (insurances that don’t benefit players).

We urge the NRL and ARLC to come to the table & provide the players with a fair deal.

As one of the leaders in our game, I am fearful and concerned about the trajectory of our game – with all major stakeholder agreements unsigned, unresolved & unannounced. These include the…NSWRL and QRL member agreements…. We need to come together & provide certainty for everyone. This must be a non-negotiable.

Let us not forget: Our game is the only game in world sport that started due to a workers’ and player rights dispute & more the 100 years on here we are again except it’s with our own governing body.

We are standing up and stepping forward to represent the will and conviction of the players & we will continue to stand firm for the benefit of current, past and future players & the overall health and success of the game.

Rugby League Players’ Association Chief Executive Officer, Clint Newton OAM

The NRL’s offer to the RLPA represents a landmark deal for the players. The NRL…have provided substantial improvement in player payments, benefits and conditions.

• The players will share an unprecedented $1.347 billion in total player payments from 2023-2027.
• This represents a 37.4% increase as compared to the $980 million total player payments agreed for 2018-2022.
• The minimum wage will progressively increase reaching $150,000 by 2027.
• Introduction of a past Player Medical Support program, Transition and Past Player programs and General Hardship Fund with a combined allocation of $10 million to establish these new programs.
• An expanded Injury Hardship Fund will be created, with a dedicated allocation of $9 million.
• An expanded and jointly managed Wellbeing & Education program will be available to all players with an allocation of $25 million.
• Beyond financial benefits, the Players will receive improved conditions compared to the previous CBA including…mandated entry and exit medicals to ensure accurate medical data is kept up to date to better serve the recovery of players.

The NRL is disappointed that the RLPA has decided to take this unnecessary action, which is damaging to the game and to the detriment of broadcast partners, sponsors and importantly fans.

It is important to correct a number of statements made by the RLPA today that are incorrect.

The NRL’s offer provides increased agreement and consultation rights for the RLPA and players. The NRL and Clubs have spent well over 12 months negotiating and carefully considering the players requests. This includes recognising the players priorities to provide greater support to players transitioning from the game and support players in retirement and hardship.  In listening to the players, the NRL offer meets the RLPA’s request on the Injury Hardship Fund, and establishment of new and expanded funds including the General Hardship Fund, Past Player Medical Support and Past Player Transition Program. 

The ARLC is the governing body of rugby league in Australia & has an obligation to act in the best interests of the game both in the immediate and long-term including protecting the interests of all of stakeholders in the game.

ARLC & NRL