State of Origin I - New South Wales v Queensland, Adelaide Oval, Wednesday, 10.05pm

What’s on?

It’s State vs State! The great rivalry between New South Wales and Queensland continues with game one taking place on Wednesday night in Adelaide. Yes Adelaide! The rugby league hotbed that brought us two glorious seasons of the Adelaide Rams including that amazing three-game winning streak they had in 1998. An odd choice to kick off the series.

How can I watch?

Coverage starts on Sky Sport 4 at 9pm, with kickoff scheduled for 10.10pm. Live streaming is available on Sky Sport Now. Bear in mind that Origin matches have a rich and vibrant history of starting way past their planned kickoff time as the players take a few extra moments to shout at the walls in the changing room and slam a fist into the palm of the other hand.

The Alternative Commentary Collective’s Mad Monday crew of Dai Henwood, Ben Hurley, Chris Key and Manaia Stewart will have full commentary on Sky Sport 6.

Will there be biff?

Ahh for the days of Wally Lewis and Mark Geyer standing toe-to-toe in the rain. It’s unlikely in the modern game. It rarely escalates beyond a scuffle, a fray if you’re lucky. But expect replays of vintage biff to pad out the unscheduled 20 minutes of broadcast time pre-kickoff while the players are wall-shouting.

So, no present-day biff?

Sorry.

Big selection calls?

There are a few new faces. Warriors fans will of course be aware of the new Queensland number one Reece Walsh playing his first Origin game after making the squad last year. He is the side’s only debutant. New South Wales will start two newcomers in Bulldogs prop Tevita Pangai Junior and Hudson Young, the Raiders second rower. They also have two on the interchange - Nicho Hynes and Stefano Utoikamanu.

NSW centre Latrell Mitchell was been ruled out the opener with a calf injury after sustaining the injury at training. Mitchell will be replaced by 18th man Stephen Crichton, while Matt Burton will join the squad as the new 18th Man.

The Blues (but not that blue)

New South Wales will wear a darker strip in game one, which they’ve done twice before. But for some reason this time it’s caused ‘outrage’ according to Aussie media outlet news.com.

“It’s outrageously stupid. No one likes it,” a furious Phil Rothfield, not a noted fashion expert, said on NRL 360. According to the Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio, jersey sales have reached almost $2 million for the NSWRL. So it can’t to that bad.

Tevita Pangai Junior, Nicholas Hynes and Hudson Young of the Blues...Dark Blues. Photo / Getty

What’s at stake?

Four different winners in four years. Will it be five? Queensland got their hands back on the shield last year after winning game three. The good news is there hasn’t been a sweep since 2010.

Queensland have 23 series titles to NSW’s 16 (with two series drawn). The Maroons have bagged 67 matches to the Blues 57.

How can I sound like I know what I’m talking about?

The bookies are backing the Blues as the slight favourites. But yet again whichever of the two playmakers, Nathan Cleary and Daly Cherry-Evans, is more on point with their kicking game might carry the day.

Who should I cheer for?

Origin claimed a spot in Kiwi hearts with some ding-dong battles in the halcyon days of the 1980s. Queensland felt like underdogs, while New South Wales had bigger names but seemed a bit flash.

It was a spell that peaked in 1991 when legendary Kiwi coach Graham Lowe became the first non-Australian to coach an Origin side, guiding the Maroons to a 2-1 victory.

In truth it doesn’t really matter who New Zealanders cheer for in Origin. For Kiwis, watching Origin brings to life an old joke:

Q: Who would win in a fight to the death between John Terry and Joey Barton. A: We all would.

What’s next?

Game 2 is on Wednesday, June 21 in Brisbane, and Game 3 is Wednesday, July 12 in Sydney. Both matches kick off when the players are good and ready.

The squads

New South Wales Blues:

1 James Tedesco, 2 Brian To’o, 3 Stephen Crichton, 4 Tom Trbojevic, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Jarome Luai, 7 Nathan Cleary, 8 Tevita Pangai Junior, 9 Apisai Koroisau, 10 Payne Haas, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Hudson Young, 13 Isaah Yeo. Interchange 14 Junior Paulo, 15 Cameron Murray, 16 Liam Martin, 17 Nicholas Hynes.

Coach: Brad Fittler

Queensland Maroons:

1 Reece Walsh, 2 Selwyn Cobbo, 3 Valentine Holmes, 4 Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, 5 Murray Taulagi, 6 Cameron Munster, 7 Daly Cherry-Evans, 8 Thomas Flegler, 9 Ben Hunt, 10 Lindsay Collins, 11 David Fifita, 12 Tom Gilbert, 13 Patrick Carrigan. Interchange 14 Harry Grant, 15 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, 16 Reuben Cotter, 17 Jai Arrow.

Coach: Billy Slater