It might have been another level, but there were certainly signs of State of Origin passion as two teams of Queensland fans dominated Hawke's Bay's own version of the famed Mate v Mate footie in Hastings today.
On a novel day at the Mitre 10 Sports Park, the Rugby League Hawke's Bay Maroons beat the RLHB New South Wales Blues 46-20 in the women's "wāhine" match and 38-22 in the men's "tāne" match.
Blues men's coach Henry Heke, who a week earlier coached Omahu Huia to its first Hawke's Bay premier grand final since 1987, said the Blue s were outmuscled by the Maroons up front.
There were some particularly good performances, notably that of giant Napier Bulldogs prop Laddie Tamati who scored two tries for the Maroons and was the winners' player of the day.
It thus limited the opportunities of an otherwise classy NSW backline, in which lanky Clive premier rugby player and former competition swimmer Josh Greening was outstanding at fullback.
