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:
“He is a poor man and has got behind-hand and when that’s the case, there is no staying in the settlements; for those varmints, the sheriffs and constables, are worse than the Indians, because you can kill Indians and you dare not kill the sheriffs.”
—For the State of West Virginia, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The present century has not dealt kindly with the farmer. His legends are all but obsolete, and his beliefs have been pared away by the professors at colleges of agriculture. Even the farm- bred bards who twang guitars before radio microphones prefer “I’m Headin’ for the Last Roundup” to “Turkey in the Straw” or “Father Put the Cows Away.””
—For the State of Kansas, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“In the woods in a winter afternoon one will see as readily the origin of the stained glass window, with which Gothic cathedrals are adorned, in the colors of the western sky seen through the bare and crossing branches of the forest.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)