Bluey
03-06-2009, 01:41 PM
Queensland have won the past three State of Origin series and are favoured to make it four - but I can come up with a couple of reasons why they are far from bulletproof.
THE money continues to pour in for Queensland.
The Maroons keep getting shorter, but bookmakers say the punters don't care.
The Maroons are now as short as $1.50 with some outlets, while New South Wales remains relatively friendless at as much as $2.65.
"Punters have not been interested in backing the Blues at this stage but bets of $10,000 are coming in regularly for the Maroons," Sportingbet Australia chief executive Michael Sullivan said.
At TAB Sportsbet, the money has been 5-1 in favour of Queensland, but spokesman Glenn Munsie said there had been some money for the Blues late yesterday.
He said most of the $4 million wagered on the match would be on Queensland.
Maroons coach Mal Meninga said dealing with the favouritism tag had been part of his team's preparation because it wasn't used to being in that position.
"It's a bit of a challenge for us, having that favouritism tag," Meninga said.
"But I have always said there are no favourites in Origin football. It has been so close over 30 years."
Fans big winners in football code arm-wrestle.
THE battle of the football codes resumes in Melbourne tonight, with rugby league firing the first shot, but by no means the last.
State-of-Origin is back. And despite the buildup being drowned out, as usual, by the din from the AFL - a coach sacking will always consign all else to the backburner - the Blues and Maroons will just about fill Etihad Stadium.
Whether that will mean much in the big picture is a moot point. It is the sixth time since 1990, and the first for three years, that the NRL has brought its showpiece south of the border for the edification of the heathens, and the crowds have generally been good.
But Melbourne Storm still struggles to attract the level of attention you'd expect for a team that has played in the past three grand finals and won two premierships in a little over a decade of existence.
Craig Bellamy, coach of Storm and New South Wales, is better placed than most to judge the wisdom of this occasional foray and insisted yesterday Melbourne people were "really appreciative" of it.
It will help the code in Victoria, he said, but he admitted he was "a bit biased".
What can be said for certain is that the landscape is about to become more crowded.
Soccer is about to give birth to a second Melbourne team in the A-League, perhaps as early as this week.
And rugby union is soon to expand its three-nation Super 14 competition to 15, with Melbourne the warm favourite to get that new team.
All three codes are descending on the sports capital of the world -- well, Bellamy let it be known yesterday he regarded that as an overblown boast -- over the next three weeks for what shapes as a fascinating territorial arm-wrestle.
For the sports fans who aren't faithfully locked into the AFL at the exclusion of all else -- and Melbourne Victory has proved there are a lot of them -- this will be an enjoyable month.
The Origin will be followed by a rugby Test between the Wallabies and Italy, also at Etihad Stadium, on Saturday, June 20.
Italy isn't exactly rugby royalty and even in a town with a huge Italian population this fixture would normally be of limited magnetism.
But with the lobbying process effectively under way, the Victorian Rugby Union -- not to mention the State Government, which is determined to get the new team -- will be doing all it can to ensure a big crowd makes an emphatic statement about the level of support available.
Four nights earlier, on the Wednesday, the Socceroos will play Japan at the MCG, and go very close to filling it.
The Socceroos have gone well past the Wallabies as Australia's most popular international football team and will by then, barring catastrophe, have qualified for their second World Cup in a row.
That should happen against Qatar in Doha on Sunday morning and even if it doesn't there is Bahrain next week at Sydney's ANZ Stadium.
The only AFL game in Melbourne that weekend is Essendon-Melbourne on the Friday night at Etihad Stadium, so World Cup fever should be alight. It will put the others in the shade.
The appetite for Origin football in Melbourne seems to grow with each visit.
Already over 50,000 tickets have been sold and there will be over two million viewers likely to be watching on the Nine Network television across Australia.
Go Queensland, you good thing.
:D
THE money continues to pour in for Queensland.
The Maroons keep getting shorter, but bookmakers say the punters don't care.
The Maroons are now as short as $1.50 with some outlets, while New South Wales remains relatively friendless at as much as $2.65.
"Punters have not been interested in backing the Blues at this stage but bets of $10,000 are coming in regularly for the Maroons," Sportingbet Australia chief executive Michael Sullivan said.
At TAB Sportsbet, the money has been 5-1 in favour of Queensland, but spokesman Glenn Munsie said there had been some money for the Blues late yesterday.
He said most of the $4 million wagered on the match would be on Queensland.
Maroons coach Mal Meninga said dealing with the favouritism tag had been part of his team's preparation because it wasn't used to being in that position.
"It's a bit of a challenge for us, having that favouritism tag," Meninga said.
"But I have always said there are no favourites in Origin football. It has been so close over 30 years."
Fans big winners in football code arm-wrestle.
THE battle of the football codes resumes in Melbourne tonight, with rugby league firing the first shot, but by no means the last.
State-of-Origin is back. And despite the buildup being drowned out, as usual, by the din from the AFL - a coach sacking will always consign all else to the backburner - the Blues and Maroons will just about fill Etihad Stadium.
Whether that will mean much in the big picture is a moot point. It is the sixth time since 1990, and the first for three years, that the NRL has brought its showpiece south of the border for the edification of the heathens, and the crowds have generally been good.
But Melbourne Storm still struggles to attract the level of attention you'd expect for a team that has played in the past three grand finals and won two premierships in a little over a decade of existence.
Craig Bellamy, coach of Storm and New South Wales, is better placed than most to judge the wisdom of this occasional foray and insisted yesterday Melbourne people were "really appreciative" of it.
It will help the code in Victoria, he said, but he admitted he was "a bit biased".
What can be said for certain is that the landscape is about to become more crowded.
Soccer is about to give birth to a second Melbourne team in the A-League, perhaps as early as this week.
And rugby union is soon to expand its three-nation Super 14 competition to 15, with Melbourne the warm favourite to get that new team.
All three codes are descending on the sports capital of the world -- well, Bellamy let it be known yesterday he regarded that as an overblown boast -- over the next three weeks for what shapes as a fascinating territorial arm-wrestle.
For the sports fans who aren't faithfully locked into the AFL at the exclusion of all else -- and Melbourne Victory has proved there are a lot of them -- this will be an enjoyable month.
The Origin will be followed by a rugby Test between the Wallabies and Italy, also at Etihad Stadium, on Saturday, June 20.
Italy isn't exactly rugby royalty and even in a town with a huge Italian population this fixture would normally be of limited magnetism.
But with the lobbying process effectively under way, the Victorian Rugby Union -- not to mention the State Government, which is determined to get the new team -- will be doing all it can to ensure a big crowd makes an emphatic statement about the level of support available.
Four nights earlier, on the Wednesday, the Socceroos will play Japan at the MCG, and go very close to filling it.
The Socceroos have gone well past the Wallabies as Australia's most popular international football team and will by then, barring catastrophe, have qualified for their second World Cup in a row.
That should happen against Qatar in Doha on Sunday morning and even if it doesn't there is Bahrain next week at Sydney's ANZ Stadium.
The only AFL game in Melbourne that weekend is Essendon-Melbourne on the Friday night at Etihad Stadium, so World Cup fever should be alight. It will put the others in the shade.
The appetite for Origin football in Melbourne seems to grow with each visit.
Already over 50,000 tickets have been sold and there will be over two million viewers likely to be watching on the Nine Network television across Australia.
Go Queensland, you good thing.
:D