Queensland players celebrate during last year's State of Origin I, which they won 26-18. Photo / Photosport
Queensland players celebrate during last year's State of Origin I, which they won 26-18. Photo / Photosport
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. He has also reported on the Warriors and NRL for more than a decade.
OPINION
State of Origin is a sporting miracle.
Whatever you think of theinterstate series – and opinions vary wildly in New Zealand – it is a phenomenon, an annual event that has become an institution on both sides of the Tasman. Some might feel it is overhyped or over the top, but it remains incredibly popular.
This year’s series, which kicks off in Sydney on Wednesday night (10.10pm NZT), will draw huge crowds and viewing audiences and plenty of column inches. Its longevity and ability to stay interesting to each new generation is in defiance of popular trends, which see events spark then fade.
I first watched Origin in the late 1980s, via the VHS highlights tapes of New South Wales league that my father would hire from the video store, a week after the game was played.
By 1990, the matches were screened here live on free-to-air television and we were (often) allowed to stay up, way past bedtime.
The contest hit a peak in New Zealand around that time, with the involvement of Graham Lowe as Queensland coach for two years, and kids in the playground would adopt either the Blues or the Maroons.
Jarome Luai in action for the Blues in last year's State of Origin series. Photo / Photosport
The first Origin match was played in 1980, with the first best-of-three series in 1982.
Within four or five years it was a huge part of the Australian sporting calendar, before interest exploded in the 1990s. It remained big over the turn of the century – especially with Allan Langer’s secret return and fairytale comeback in 2001 – and just kept on growing.
Queensland’s total dominance between 2006 and 2017 wasn’t ideal, as they won 11 of 12 series, but it didn’t really hurt.
Even Covid couldn’t affect it, as the rearranged 2020 series (moved to the end of the season) couldn’t have been scripted better, with a 70-year-old Wayne Bennett helping Queensland defy impossible odds.
They were derided as the worst Maroons side ever and had 14 rookies but produced an upset for the ages, beating the star-studded New South Wales team 2-1.
Origin just goes on and on, with 2024 marking its 43rd year. That is staggering, especially if you consider how things have changed elsewhere.
Look at the Ranfurly Shield. Matches could stop the nation in the 1980s and 1990s – even into the early 2000s – but the grand old contest has become an afterthought.
The Wellington Sevens was the hottest ticket for years – selling out in minutes – until suddenly it wasn’t.
Fans enjoying the party at the 2009 Wellington Sevens. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Remember cricket’s Tri-Series in Australia? It was huge, free-to-air, primetime viewing for decades until fans decided they wanted to do something else.
T20′s Big Bash League was a ratings bonanza across its first five seasons but has stagnated a bit since, as has global interest in the Indian Premier League.
Domestic netball has nosedived, after being huge in the National Bank Cup days and the early years of the ANZ Championship.
The FA Cup in England no longer moves the needle, superseded by more glamourous and lucrative options, after being the biggest domestic football competition on the planet for most of the 20th century.
Heavyweight boxing isn’t what it was and even marquee horse racing events don’t have the same spark in Australasia.
There are many and varied reasons for all the above but a common theme: fans, whether on screen or in the stands, have moved on.
Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane during State of Origin II last year. Photo / Photosport
But the critical success factors are probably threefold. It’s unpredictable. It’s generally close, as shown by the match tally of 67-55 across four decades. And it has genuine meaning, a tribal event with few parallels.
Not everything about State of Origin is great, however.
The biggest negative impact has been the effect on the international game, which it has gradually devoured. International matches should be the pinnacle – and still are for many – but Origin has superseded tests, which has affected the sport’s ability to grow outside its traditional markets.
That needs to change but it will take an administrator of great courage to tamper with the cash cow that Origin has become.
