State of Origin

On Wednesday May 25 I was given the opportunity to watch the State of Origin’s first game of a best of three series on a television with a few good mates.  I have really adopted the culture of rugby since I arrived in Australia and felt excited about this series as it was something I had been hearing about for a few weeks.  I asked a few of my Australian friends about the history of the game and found out that traditionally New South Wales struggles in the tournament and that Queensland is usually the best team.  Conveniently game one was between these two teams.  Unlike the few professional rugby games that I went to this stadium was packed full of people and even on television it was easy to see how intense the atmosphere was inside that stadium.  Originally I pictured this like an all star game that they do in the States where the best players from each teams form two teams and play each other.  No one takes these games serious and it is all a big joke and the players are laughing and being friendly with one another.  This game was not like that at all.  These guys were trash talking, hitting each other extremely hard, and did not take it as a joke at all.  This was awesome to see because it showed they had a sense of pride for their homeland and the team they were playing for.  Each time wanted to win the game and it was quite apparent from the very start of the game until the last whistle blew.  As a student living in Sydney I was obviously rooting for New South Wales but unfortunately they lost.  However, I am so pumped at how intense this game was that I am going to follow the State of Origin next year.