Well, the hatred does have a fair bit to do with rugby league, actually. If you’re wondering why Queenslanders care so much, you have to go back to even before the arrival of State Of Origin, which has been around since 1980. Back to when the rules stated that players turn out for whichever state they were playing rugby league in at the time. The first year of interstate rugby league in 1908 saw NSW thrash Queensland 43-0 … before any club sides had even been established in the sunshine state. Even up until the last years before the format change, Maroon supporters had to watch their beloved Arthur Beetson and Johnny Lang strut around in the sky blue of the “enemy”. And so the hatred from north of the border began, and remains.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic though. For example, Jimmy Craig, Pony Halloway, Vic Hey, Harold Horder, Brian Carlson, Clive Churchill, Vic Armbruster, John Sattler, and even the legendary Dally Messenger, were some of the greatest-ever NSW-born players to play for Queensland over the years. Enjoy the rest of the series, no matter where you’re from.