State of origin is the state or territory from which something originates. The name is also used in Australia for both small and larger sporting events which generally involve domestic representative teams. The term, when used in isolation, usually refers to rugby league football, and occasionally Australian Football matches, in which players are selected for the Australian states or territories where they either first played (hence the name 'state of origin') or played the majority of their senior football. The concept mirrors international representative rules in other sports. The annual State of Origin series is now one of Australia's most popular sporting events. Just about every organization/competition group in Australia now have their own State of Origin event.
It was devised to address the drift of most talented Australian rules players to the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the effect that this had on interstate matches. A similar situation existed in regard to the New South Wales Rugby League which attracted the best players from the Queensland Rugby League because of its far stronger and financially attractive competition . The latter was due to the increased funds of the New South Wales clubs, due to poker machines, which Queensland laws prohibited.
Read more about State Of Origin: History
Famous quotes containing the words state of, state and/or origin:
“The wealthy man is not he who has money, but he who has the means to live in the luxurious state of early spring.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“The State is to make what is useful. The individual is to make what is beautiful.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“For, though the origin of most of our words is forgotten, each word was at first a stroke of genius, and obtained currency, because for the moment it symbolized the world to the first speaker and to the hearer. The etymologist finds the deadest word to have been once a brilliant picture.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)