State of Origin

Wow, do Aussies love their footy! Actually, footy covers just about all sports here in Australia. Australian Football League is called footy. Rugby Union is called footy. Then, there is National Rugby League, and you guessed it, it's called FOOTY! The NRL is what I've watched the most of. This version of rugby is played by all the local state teams. My local team is the South Sydney Rabbitohs, and it's actually the team that Russell Crowe owns. You might not think that a rabbit could be scary, but the mascot reminds me more of the bunny from Monty Python when they flash him up on the jumbotron screen... "He has fangs like this..." (Link to Rabbitohs site)

Out of Rugby League comes State of Origin games, the most watched rugby games here. Tonight, NSW (the Blues) and Queensland (the Maroons) played against each other in the tie-breaker game. For this game, each state makes a team from the NRL players based on the state in which the team members played on their first senior footy team. So, you have local teemmates playing a pretty huge rivalry against each other, and the games are played mid-season. (Link to State of Origin explained) The Blues took the first win, and Queensland took the second. This game is certainly the most intense game I have seen since I've been here. Apparently, there's a Queensland fan down the street because I can hear him yelling every time the Maroons score or do anything remotely interesting.. It's 80 minutes of serious play. I saw quite a few cuts, bruises, and maybe a significant head injury. THEY DON'T PLAY WITH PADS OR HELMETS! Just full on muscle and grit! What a game... GO THE BLUES!!

Sadly, I must report that Queensland took the series...