A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval in Perth, the initial brainchild of Leon Larkin. The selection criteria for Australian football have varied, but they are generally applied to players who have played most of their juniors games in a particular state or territory, hence the name "State of Origin". In Rugby League the criteria are different, where players are selected for where they either first played senior Rugby League or where they played in the majority of senior competitions. The annual Rugby League State of Origin series is one of Australia's most popular sporting events. The name is also used in Australia for small sporting events which generally involve domestic representative teams.
Rugby league in Australia has been one of Australia's most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2022, it was the most watched sport on Australian television with an aggregate audience of 137.3 million viewers. The premier club competition is the National Rugby League (NRL), which features ten teams from New South Wales, four teams from Queensland, and one team each from Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The premier representative competition is the annual Rugby league State of Origin featuring two sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons is often referred to as "Australian sport's greatest rivalry", it is one of Australia's premier sporting events, attracting huge interest and television audiences.
In Queensland, Australian rules football dates back to the colonial era in 1866, with organised competitions being continuous since the 1900s. Today, it is most popular in South East Queensland and the Cairns Region. There are 11 regional club competitions, the highest profile of which are the semi-professional Queensland Australian Football League and AFL Cairns. It is governed by AFL Queensland. With more than 55,000 registered adult players, it has the fifth largest of any jurisdiction.
The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules football competition, with these being First-Grade, Reserve-Grade and Under 17s. In the netball competition, there are five grades, with these being A-Grade, A Reserve-Grade, B-Grade, C-Grade and Under 17s. Governed by AFL Riverina, the league is the only major country league in New South Wales, and was formerly a VFL recruiting zone for South Melbourne from 1968 to 1986.
Australian rules football has been played continuously in the Australian Capital Territory since 1911 and was the most popular football code in the nation's capital Canberra between 1978 and 1982. The current governing body is AFL Canberra founded 1922, while the development body is AFL NSW/ACT established in 1999.
In New South Wales, Australian rules football dates back to the 1860s colonial era, with organised competitions being continuous since the 1880s. Today, it is popular in several regions of the state, including areas near the Victorian and South Australian borders—in the Riverina, Broken Hill, and South Coast. These areas form part of an Australian cultural divide described as the Barassi Line. To the west of the line it is commonly known as "football" or "Australian Football" and to east of the line, it is known by the acronym "AFL" used by the Australian Football League competition. There are more than 15 regional leagues, the highest profile based there are AFL Sydney and the Riverina Football Netball League. AFL NSW/ACT is the main development body. With 71,481 registered players, it has the third most of any jurisdiction.
Henson Park is a multi purpose sports ground in Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia.
The AFL Hunter Central Coast is an Australian rules football competition in the Newcastle, Hunter Region and Central Coast regions of New South Wales.
The AFL North Coast is a park Australian rules football competition in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales. Founded in 1982 as The North Coast Australian Football League it merged with the junior league in its area in 2008 and was renamed AFL North Coast.
The Summerland Australian Football League or SAFL was an Australian rules football competition in the Northern Rivers and New England region of New South Wales, Australia, in existence from 1984 to 2011. It now is reformed under the AFL Queensland banner under various QFA divisions, currently QFA Division 2 South/Northern Rivers.
Sport in New South Wales describes participation in and attendance at organised sports events in the state of New South Wales in Australia. Sport forms an integral part of the culture of the state.
The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rugby League in 2019. The CRL was superseded by 6 NSWRL Country Divisions represented by 4 members of the nine-person NSWRL board. Despite its name, the CRL also governed rugby league in the Australian Capital Territory. Apart from selecting a Country Origin side to play in the annual City vs Country Origin game, the CRL administered many senior and junior competitions across the state.
Group 4 is a rugby league competition in the New England and north west area of New South Wales, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League.
The Barassi Line is an imaginary line in Australia which approximately divides areas where Australian rules football or rugby league is the most popular football code. The term was first used by historian Ian Turner in his 1978 Ron Barassi Memorial Lecture. Crowd figures, media coverage, and participation rates are heavily skewed in favour of the dominant code on both sides. Non-football sports in Australia do not share this separation; for instance, Australian cricket has maintained consistent interest nationally for its entire history.
The North West Australian Football League was an Australian rules football league in north-western New South Wales, featuring teams from towns such as Tamworth, Narrabri, Moree, Gunnedah, Wee Waa, Inverell and Coonabarabran.
The Farrer Football Netball League (FFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules football competition, with these being First-Grade, Reserve-Grade and Under 17s. In the netball competition there are four grades, with these being A-Grade, A-Reserve Grade, B-Grade and C-Grade.
Rugby league in New South Wales is the most popular spectator sport in the state, with the attendance and television audiences exceeding that of the various other codes of football. There are over 400,000 active rugby league participants, with a further 1 million playing the sport in schools, placing the sport second only to soccer for the most played sport in the state. There are more than 500 active clubs, ten of which are professional teams competing in the National Rugby League (NRL).
The New England Australian Football League was an Australian rules football league based around the University of New England in Armidale, Australia. It was created by UNE students in 1962 and ran until 1984, when its remaining clubs moved to the North West AFL.
Sam Naismith is a former professional Australian rules footballer for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for the Sydney Swans between 2014 and 2022 before being delisted.
The Tamworth Rugby Union Sporting Club is an amateur rugby union club in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia.
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