State of Origin

State of Origin ( Country of Origin ) is the name used in Australia for sporting events or other events that are held between the teams of the Australian states.

When the term is used individually, he points out usually on a rugby league or Australian Rules football match, in which players are selected for the States, where they have either started their careers or played the longest time.

Its origins are in the departure of many talented Australian Rules Football player in the Victorian Football League (now Australian Football League ) and the effect this has had on games between states. A similar situation existed in relation to the New South Wales Rugby League, the best players from the Queensland Rugby League bought until the 1980s.

Although state-of- Origin games no longer take place in the Australian Rules Football, is the annual meeting in Rugby League one of the most popular sporting events in Australia.

History

The first recorded call for a State of Origin in 1900 was made ​​by a as " The Cynic " ( The Cynical ) known journalists. For a rugby league magazine ( "The Referee " ) written, he suggested that Stephen Spragg, who had gone to Queensland, although this should be able to play for his native state of New South Wales .. The concept should be taken up later for Rugby League again, but was never used for rugby union.

Australian Rules Football

The first state-of- Origin match was an Australian Rules Football game between Western Australia and Victoria at Subiaco Oval in Perth on 8 October 1977. Leon Larkin, head of the Subiaco Football Club in the West Australian Football League ( WAFL ), negotiated for two years with the Victorian Football League until the preparations were completed for the match.

Play against the other states should follow soon. 1989 saw 91 960 spectators - a record for games between states in the Australian Rules Football - the game between Victoria and South Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The viewership and interest, however, took off during the 1990s. This was due, among other things, the transformation of the VFL into the National League, the Australian Football League ( AFL). The last official date state-of- Origin match with AFL players took place in 1999. Nevertheless, the annual Veterans ' Game is organized.

Currently being considered by officials of the AFL about the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Australian Rules Football again a State of Origin to organize.

Rugby League (Australia )

New South Wales and Queensland played their first State of Origin against each other on August 8, 1980 which Queensland won 20:10. The interest was found to be comparable to the Australian Rules State of Origins.

The interest in Rugby League State of Origin's continued to this day and is one of Australia's biggest sporting events. A record number of audience was in 1999 at a game at Stadium Australia achieved with 88 336 spectators. The record for the total number of audience of three games comprehensive State of Origin 2004 was erected, as total 203 309 spectators were present. The 2005 series broke the attendance record for a series with two games in Queensland with a total of 187 374 spectators.

The choice of players for the national team of Australia is often influenced by their performance in the state-of- Origin series.

Rugby League ( UK )

The success of the Australian State-of- Origin games in 2001 resulted in an introduction to England under the name Origin games where one team from Yorkshire and Lancashire playing against each other.

Rugby League ( New Zealand)

The New Zealand Rugby League from 2008 to organize a similar competition, the Kiwi Roots. The players are divided into two teams, one born north of the Bombay Hills for players and one born for the south of it. This classification is due to the rivalry between New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, and the rest of the country.