<P> The State of Origin series is the annual best - of - three Australian rugby league football match series between two state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons . </P> <P> Referred to as Australian sport's greatest rivalry, the State of Origin series is one of Australia's premier sporting events, attracting huge television audiences and usually selling out the stadiums in which the games are played . It is regularly described as being the pinnacle of rugby league, even in comparison with international competitions . </P> <P> Players are selected to represent the Australian state in which they played their first senior rugby league game, hence the name' state of origin' . Prior to 1980 players were only selected for interstate matches on the basis of where they were playing their club football at the time . In both 1980 and 1981 there were two interstate matches under the old selection rules and one experimental "State of Origin" match . From 1982 onwards a best - of - three match series has been played around the middle of the rugby league season for the State of Origin shield . During the early years, the results were extraordinarily even . However, since 2006, Queensland has won every series except in 2014 . </P> <P> Since the 1908 establishment of rugby league in Australia, the sport's two major states, New South Wales and Queensland, have played representative matches against each other which have continued into the "state of origin" era which began in the 1980s . The two states' teams are frequently referred to as the Blues and Maroons, reflecting the respective colours of their jerseys . These were the colours of the Australia national rugby league team's jersey until the adoption of the green and gold . The Blues team is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League and the Maroons by the Queensland Rugby League . The New South Wales team are sometimes referred to by the nickname "Cockroaches" and the Queensland team as "Cane Toads", due to a marketing campaign used in the 1980s where the respective teams were caricatured as such . </P>

What determines which state of origin team you play for