State of Origin

For the annual series of rugby league games in Australia, see the State of Origin series article.

State of origin is the state or territory from which something originates. The term, when used in isolation, usually refers to rugby league and, until more recently, Australian rules football matches. The selection criteria for Australian football has varied, but it is generally applied to players who played most of their juniors games in a particular state or territory, hence the name "State of Origin". In Rugby league the criteria is different, where players are selected for where they either first played senior Rugby league or where they played the majority of senior competition. The annual State of Origin series is now 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.