State Of Origin’s State Of Affairs

From May to July every year, the NRL calendar is sent into chaos with the State of Origin games happening every three weeks.

If you don't know what any of this means, chances are you're not from New South Wales or Queensland.

State of Origin pits the best of both state's players against each one another in a ‘best of three’ series. It’s possibly the most exciting non-finals sporting event on TV and it starts tonight.

2015 marks the 35th year of the clash and fans from all around Australia are hoping for a highly competitive game and maybe a return of the biff (noun: a scuffle or fight).

Players are selected from the 18 club teams depending on where they played their junior games, which potentially means teammates will face off against teammates in the most brutal games of the year… only to play on the same team again four days later.

The Queensland team faces a few changes, most bought on by injury or retirement. Still, how could you argue with Mal Meninga (Canberra and Queensland great and now coach)? Winning 8 straight series means you're doing something right.

But in 2014, this team was bested and the youth of New South Wales proved to be too energetic for the Queensland side. With many of the State players reaching an older status amongst today's Rugby League players, the question in the air remains, “Do they still have it?”

New South Wales, on the other hand, faces a problem the exact opposite in nature: the young guns of the Blues, in many people's eyes, have not yet proven to be worthy of either playing at this level or to have another chance.

Mitchell Pearce, in particular, has been the prime example of this, as his State of Origin mistakes have been montaged into a video on YouTube with many of them occuring at crucial moments.

The loss of Jarryd Hayne - who despite his naysayers has been crucial in securing wins for NSW - to American Football will surely play a part in the game as well. Longtime members of the NSW side including Luke Lewis, Anthony Watmough, Greg Bird and Paul Gallen will all be absent for Game 1 for various reasons and the proverbial changing of the guard taking place is set to create an interesting dynamic.

With Game 1 being so crucial, both teams are going to come out guns blazing. Queensland is eager to reclaim what they lost and New South Wales are just as eager to prove that the win wasn't a fluke. The game is set to be intense and a battle of not only physicality but wits as well; that’s just as important as Game 1 gives a huge series advantage to the winner.

I’ll be back to cover the second and third games as the series progresses!

Blake Riley is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. Learn more about the contributors program.