The Australian Media have been delighting in what seems to be a steady process of adopting Australian ideas in the UK. There is the apparent emulation of Australian Immigration Policy , the possible mimicking of an Australian voting systems – even amusingly the appropriation of a catchphrase from Bananas in Pijamas in the 2005 election! Well, if this is a creeping trend, can I recommend one other feature of Australian Life ripe for the stealing: State of Origin
I attended my very first live State of Origin match last night. I’m not a Rugby league fan, preferring Union instead, but SoO has always been exciting, engaging stuff – far more for the highly partisan, competitive and usually quite violent spectacle that it provides than for the quality of the sport. Its a 30 year old tradition and sees an annual three-match series between NRL players playing for the states from which they originally came. Queensland vs New South Wales. For three matches, everyone becomes either a Cane Toad (Queensland) or a Coachroach (New South Wales) – recognising the more notable plagues each state hosts. Its a festival of mock-hatred that has completely engaged Papua New Guinea, who tune in as a nation to the mid-week matches as if they were their own national sport.The expectation all Origin fans happily entertain – and is central to its appeal - is one of Gladiatorial “Biff”. The rivalry of the two sides – playing not for club success but for State-driven pride – more often than not leads to a break out of unfettered fisticuffs that the whole family can enjoy. Its an expectation the referees are known to turn a lenient eye to and one the sport as a whole happily stokes Take 1995 as a perfect example but also this from last year’s final game set the expectation to be high:There was none on my visit, although the statium still had a cauldron-esque atmosphere that reminded me of English Premiership derbies of old. The torrential rain that had poured unrelentingly all day had dampened perhaps the players hatred, but also the pitch. Still an appreciation of the passion for this game is evidenced by the fact that despite it being a wet, chilly school night, the badly-located Olympic park still saw nearly 70,000 turn out.However, despite the lack of Biff, it wasn’t a complete loss. I did win a 9:1 bet on first try scorer which collected me $45 – not bad for a free trip as a Gold Member thanks to a generous friend. But the game continued down hill after that for ‘Roach fans. New South Wales would momentarily experience lapses of consciousness as a side, and their attention seemed to vanish just as the Toads approached the try line. ON a couple of occasions the “Maroons” would simply stroll over the “Blues’” line almost guiltily, aghast at the New South Wales defensive negligence. Most will agree that the final scoreline of 28-24 to the Toads flatters New South Wales and has put their coach under no end of pressure, depite the fact that a NSW Roach-Coach has not been successful in five years.All round terrific entertainment and leads me to wonder if the same could not be instituted in England – North vs South: FA players from north and south of The Watford Gap pitched against each other in an annual three-match series for charity?