Queensland, New South Wales Renew State of Origin Rugby Rivalry

One of the more interesting aspects of being a sports handicapper is learning about the wide variety of sports that are a big deal internationally but are virtually unknown in the United States. International soccer is finally starting to catch on with the American sporting public and cricket has started to gain some traction as well. Even so, there is still a wide variety of international sports that are practically unheard of in the US. Competitive Rugby would fall into that category. Although the sport itself is well known all over the world, such is not the case with Rugby Union and Rugby League–the two different types of professional competition in the sport. In this post, we’ll deal with Rugby League and specifically the Australian National Rugby League pro circuit.

Actually, for this matchup we go outside of the National Rugby League itself for an ‘extracurricular’ competition between the Queensland Maroons and New South Wales Blues. The teams will begin play this Wednesday in the State of Origin series–it is an annual best of three competition between these two teams. Technically, players are selected to represent the Australian state in which they first played senior league rugby which is the genesis of the ‘State of Origin’ name. The selection criteria has changed from time to time and has been a constant source of controversy. The State of Origin series began in 1982 though in the past decade plus it has been dominated by Queensland. The Maroons have won 11 of the last 13 State of Origin series including eight straight between 2006 and 2013 and three straight between 2015 and 2017.

For only the second time in that stretch, however, New South Wales enter as defending State of Origin champions. The previous time was in 2015 when the Blues lost the series 2-1. Wednesday’s Game 1 will take place at Suncorp Stadium in the Brisbane suburb of Milton. Game 2 will shift to Perth’s Optus Stadium before Game 3 heads to Sydney’s Stadium Australia (now known as TMZ Stadium due to a naming rights deal with ANZ Bank). For a fan outside of Australia, it’s difficult to convey what a big deal the State of Origin series is. The Queensland vs. New South Wales rugby rivalry is often referred to as the greatest rivalry in all of Australian sports. The games almost always rank among the top 10 most viewed broadcasts on Australian television along with the AFL Grand Final and the Australian Open Tennis competition. In Queensland and New South Wales, viewership for the State of Origin series easily tops every other television program or sporting event of the year.

Historically, the NSW Blues have not done well playing in Queensland. In the previous 55 meetings NSW has only 19 wins and 1 draw. There are many in the Australian sporting press that think last year’s game represented a significant change in the fortunes of both sides. NSW is focusing on youth, speed and athleticism in it’s team selection and the prevailing wisdom is they simply have the better team. Last year, NSW won the first two games of the series to clinch the title before Queensland regained some measure of dignity in the finale at Suncorp Stadium. We’ll play New South Wales on the threeway line and the handicap and look for a fair amount of scoring.

BET NEW SOUTH WALES -130 OVER QUEENSLAND (Regular Time)
BET NEW SOUTH WALES TO WIN BY 12 POINTS OR LESS +175
BET NEW SOUTH WALES/QUEENSLAND OVER 32.5 -120

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