It’s State of Origin time — go the Blues!
It’s that time of year again — a time that rugby league supporters look forward to each year. It’s also a time when occasional league fans show more than their usual interest, especially if they’re New South Welshman or Queenslanders. It’s State of Origin time.
It’s a time when your best Queensland mate becomes your sworn enemy, a canetoad. Or if you’re from north of the Tweed, your best gal pal becomes a despicable cockroach.
The series kicks off in Sydney on May 24. Then it’s up to Brisbane for game two on June 14.
Normally, one or the other team gets two games at home, making them very hard to beat. This year game three is being played in Melbourne, so the home-game advantage means nothing this year.
Who are the favourites this year? Well, if the bookies are correct, the Queensland Maroons will triumph over the New South Wales Blues.
Centrebet has the Maroons at $2.30 (in from $2.75) to beat the Blues ($1.60 from $1.45) over the three matches.
“Queensland has named its strongest squad in years and there are significant question marks hanging over the heads of several New South Wales players,” says Centrebet’s Gerard Daffy.
Meanwhile, Melbourne is Centrebet’s new NRL Premiership favourite after beating North Queensland. The Storm ($6.00 from $8.00) is the fourth side to head the betting agency’s NRL market this year.
And Danny Green is threatening to usurp Anthony Mundine as Centrebet’s favourite for Wednesday’s fight. The bookmaker reports that Green Machine bets are outnumbering those on Mundine 2:1.
We won’t bother about betting on the Origin series (our punting philosophy is that money is tough enough to get, so it’s not worth the risk of giving it to a bookie).
But that doesn’t mean we won’t be glued to the television set next Wednesday night. Go the Blues!
