Blues captain Paul Gallen leads his team onto the field during game three of last year's State of Origin series. Photo / Getty Images.
The State of Origin could be coming to New Zealand, following reports yesterday that the NRL is preparing to sell one State of Origin fixture each year to a venue outside NSW and Queensland to cash in on the code's showpiece.
The Daily Telegraph revealed that the move,
flagged by NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg, could see games played in New Zealand, which attracted 200,000 fans during the Auckland Nines over the past three years, or Perth.
Queensland will receive two home games next season but from 2018 the NRL will broker a new Origin schedule that will see other markets enter the equation.
State of Origin has been played overseas once, when NSW and Queensland played an exhibition game in America in 1987. However, Mr Greenberg said the time had come to investigate NZ's ability to host an Origin game.
"In simple terms, we will now have to look at where we play Origin content in the next five to 10 years and we are looking at a range of different markets. I can assure you New Zealand will be one of those," he told the Telegraph.
