Queensland Roos are smart arses

Have to agree.. Tests have very little build up but by and large the content of the games are first class, high quality games with high intensity. The difference being without the assisted hype and build up from the Media that is bestowed upon SOO. Also there is no campaign or result to build up momentum towards in the media due to token one off fixtures.. Bring back Test series FFS.. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work out the formula for international success. The talent is there, it's undeniable..

Not to mention that the Kiwis were only just defeated by the combined best from both NSW and QLD and NZ. I'm sure the State of NZ could more than hold their own. NZs population is State like by proportion. Interesting.. With all the poaching by Kangaroos being akin to NSW pre Origin era I'm sure NZ could unleash its own grudge and chant NEWZEALANDER just as hard as any Qldr..

Some people are going way over the top with this story. As you alude to above those south of the tweed have taken to questioning the national loyalty of Queenslanders. A moron on the DT website went so far as to claim that he would not like to be in the 'armed forces' with a QLDer as the QLDer would shoot him instead of the enemy. Such nonsense is quite plainly offensive to millions of Queenslanders and much worse than the singing af a bloody song. PS 12 of 17 players were QLDers and one of your 5 is a bloody kiwi anyway - they may as well sing a QLD song.

Steve, I had a look at it now, and I reckon there is nothing in it much. It looked like the Morrises, Farah and Bird were singing along. To me the body language does not show any great schism in the group. Maybe it is all a Paul Kent beat-up?

Nswmen's primary identity is Australian first, our state identity is a long way back. I think it comes from being the original colony, the oldest, biggest etc. I don; think NSwmen would ever do that. We would feel like celebrating an Australian international victory far more than a victory over another state.

Andy with Daley as the new NSW coach, you'll be waiting a long time.

Yes, I can see how this happens, however regardless not all Rugby League players make the big time. There has to be a second tier, such as the QLD/NSW Cups. The good players all get poached regardless of where they play, and although there are more than a few kiwis running around in the NRL and NZ rugby league aren't that good that they all make the big time. You have to consider that even WA, SA and VIC have domestic comps, not high quality, however I’m sure that the WA will feed into a future WA club. I remember reading that the SA comp supported the Rams. Second tiers create depth, something both QLD and NSW have, NZ does not. It irks me that players like Josh Hoffman, Gerard Beale etc have come through the Queensland system, and that Queensland's cash and time have been used to develop these players. NZ would have much more of a leg to stand on when it comes to “poached” kiwis when they have been worked through the ranks of a kiwi RL system. And just because no one would watch, does not mean that there is not an onus on NZRL to develop the sport locally.

Eaglejack the funny thing is about New Zealand rugby is that they probably are thinking about doing it as no one is giving them a run at the moment and the ARU will loose players post any NRL expansion after the TV deal.

The QLD team is very smug, i cannot wait for them to fail. Ricky Stuart was close, i think he needed another year. Unfortunately he coaches Parramatta now.

countries are sovereign states

So at the core of this, and so many other streams of thought on here, is essentially “SOO is too strong/important lets do something about it”. Is there any other enterprise in the world that goes our product is too popular/ingrained/successful lets break it? I get the philosophical conundrum about preferring state over country but both are just political constructions right who’s to say identifying with one over the other is disrespectful? And remember we are talking about hobby where we support 13 blokes who share nothing in common with us other than some guy paid them to pull on a shirt with colours we decided were a lot cooler than one worn by the other 13 guys and now they hopefully go out and run after a ball in a much more effective way than the guys in shirts that your mate likes.

bjt the problem is though the top league players in NZ all go to Australia to play league as there is just so many more opportunities. They have had good domestic comps in the past however scouts from Australia come over and the domestic comp will lose all its best players. NZ is just too small of a country and does not have enough money to starve off the cash rich NRL. As a Kiwi I am not too bothered. The NRL is the best RL comp in the world so to have plenty of Kiwis playing in it will mean the Kiwis national team will be strong as we saw on Saturday night.

would be interesting getting yi yi yippee sung before the match in place of the anthem.

To be fair , if a third team is to be added then it should be Victoria as it is a state, and unless I'm wrong it is called 'state" of origin.

i can assure you that its not

Yep, fair point. However, I just think league has a long way to go in NZ. I believe that the NZ must implement a proper national comp, that would rival QLD Cup / NSW Cup. The current national comp of 7 rounds, is a start I suppose, however is far from representing league in that nation and if they're happy with it, its a joke. This needs to change, and when it does, much good will come from it for Rugby League both in NZ and internationally. Actually I believe that further NRL expansion in NZ should not even be considered until something is in place for a number of years. The real question is what is NZRL administration doing for the sport? All they seem to be doing is chasing anyone in Australia with a hint of kiwi connection and reading the Courier Mail to see what Mel is up to. Fair enough for blokes who have lived in NZ the majority of their lives that now reside in Aus, but people who have lived half their lives here have a choice, as simple as that. Don't get me wrong, I'm a league expansionist and NZ is very important to state of league. What makes me angry is the inaction of NZRL.

Hi Steve, I'm usually with you. I didn't see this one, but were the guys singing it meaning to disrespect the NSW guys? I just reckon the fans get caught up in this state rivalry too much, the players are mates, basically.