---

State Of Origin III - Wed 02 July, Stadium Australia Sydney, Kickoff 8:00pm


NSW Blues Team:

Fullback: Brett Stewart (Manly Warringah)
Wing: Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta Eels)
Centre: Joel Monaghan (Canberra Raiders)
Centre: Matt Cooper (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Wing: Anthony Quinn (Melbourne Storm)
Five-eighth: Braith Anasta (Sydney Roosters)
Halfback: Mitchell Pearce (Sydney Roosters)
Front Row: Willie Mason (Sydney Roosters)
Hooker: Danny Buderus (c) (Newcastle Knights)
Front Row: Brett White (Melbourne Storm)
Second Row: Craig Fitzgibbon (Sydney Roosters)
Second Row: Ryan Hoffman (Melbourne Storm)
Lock: Paul Gallen (Cronulla Sharks)

Interchanges:
Anthony Laffranchi (Gold Coast Titans)
Anthony Tupou (Sydney Roosters)
Ben Cross (Newcastle Knights)
Kurt Gidley (Newcastle Knights)


QLD Maroons Team:

Fullback: Karmichael Hunt (Brisbane Broncos)
Wing: Darius Boyd (Brisbane Broncos)
Centre: Greg Inglis (Melbourne Storm)
Centre: Brent Tate (NZ Warriors)
Wing: Israel Folau (Melbourne Storm)
Five-eighth: Johnathan Thurston (North Qld Cowboys)
Halfback: Scott Prince (Gold Coast Titans)
Front Row: Steven Price (NZ Warriors)
Hooker: Cameron Smith (c) (Melbourne Storm)
Front Row: Petero Civoniceva (Penrith Panthers)
Second Row: Michael Crocker (Melbourne Storm)
Second Row: Ashley Harrison (Gold Coast Titans)
Lock: Dallas Johnson (Melbourne Storm)

Interchanges:
Ben Hannant (Brisbane Broncos)
Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm)
Nate Myles (Sydney Roosters)
Sam Thaiday (Brisbane Broncos)

---

NSW Blues are currently paying $2.20 fo the head-2-head win, those odds are expected to shorten as the betting increases closer to the game.

If Anasta doesn't choke, Mason doesn't wuss, Buderus is on his game and Mitchell Pearce puts in a solid perfomance, the rest of the pattern of success for the Blues will fall into place and give it a good shot at taking this year's decider out.

NEW
SOUTH
WALES!

7 1/2 mins SOO primer Clip:

If NSW play shite again QLD deserve to have it.

I went down to watch Origin 1. Great game.

go the blues.

hey, we're all from newcastle.. spooky !!

I am going against the grain. GO THE MAROONS

why is called "State of Origin"?

Stemik - it is a very parochial thing where players represent the state (province) from which they came - even though they may be living and playing in another one.

u traiterous dog!

QLD too good. We gotta find some better players.
Can we have Greg Inglis back please?

This is the Ozzie version of the US world series. A game no-one plays, and no-one is interested in. Spain just won in Europe. The World game is called football. Others may play kickball and handball. Airial ping pong is an amusing divertion. Oz and the US: bugger off.

ahem, yes, if you insist....

I don't insist. The Ozzie bores feel their games are important. In Sydney and Auckland, Oh yes.

personally, I like football.

They are important us,and we don't care what you or anyone else thinks.

Oh, and wasn't it Japan we beat in soccer/football to get in the finals of the world cup (cant remember seeing England there BTW). We went down by 1 point to the world champs Italy in the end.

We felt that was pretty important too.

Thank goodness the "State of Oranges" is over for another year! Now we get some semi-decent programming again on the idiot box. Actually, can't wait for the thugby season to be over entirely. Then we can go back to something approaching intelligent programming without the "I get knocked down, but I get up again!" game.

Well I don't think anyone follows the NRL for the 'intelligence' value.
Rugby League is a test of strength, courage and skill. The things that are sadly lacking in other codes. I can't watch the round ball game anymore for all the dives, play acting and other girlish behaviour. But mostly because one of the games icons, David Beckam, spends more time in the beauty salon than on the pitch. Hardly the type of man I want my boy to become.

That said, my boy has started playing soccer and I love watching every game.

Rugby League - a gentleman's game played by thugs,
Rugby Union - a thug's game played by "gentlemen".

There are nearly as many dives, play acting in league and union as there are in futbol. BUT, the single advantage they have is that there are plenty of points scored. Very few games end up as a nil-all draw.

That used to be the point of the pools, to pick which games would end up a scoreless draw after 90 minutes! It is almost impossible to get excited about a game where nobody wins and nobody scores - most of the time!

Anyway, the point of my earlier post was that, for those of us who prefer NOT to watch the thugby (of either code) there is very slim pickings on the telly! Actually, expand that to those who prefer to not watch sport (much) on the box, and the programming in Oz os woefull. Golf, FFS! I'd rather have nose hairs pulled one by one!

Yep. That's why I love it. If they would just throw in some christians and lions at half time.................

Rugby Union is the game. League is just a castrated version for television and attention deficient rednecks.

Union is a great game.
Especially if you like to watch overweight man standing around with their hands on their hips sucking in deep breaths while they watch some peckerhead kicking a penalty goal.