TOO GOOD: Queensland wins the 2012 State of Origin series. Picture: Adam Head Source: The Courier-Mail
QUEENSLAND has been robbed of its right to host two State of Origin matches - and Premier Campbell Newman say it proves NSW has a 'squirrel grip' on the game.
The dominant Origin side was robbed of its right to host two State of Origin matches next year after a multimillion-dollar deal has been struck between the NSW Government, Sydney's ANZ Stadium management and the new Australian Rugby League Commission to give the Blues the 2013 home advantage over the Maroons.
The Maroons, who have dominated the Blues with a record seven consecutive series wins, were supposed to host two of the three matches next year.
But the ARLC has decided to treat series featuring a Melbourne match as a neutral year, meaning the usual hosting rights are put on hold until the following series.
Commenting on reports of the decision, Mr Newman told Brisbane Radio 4KQ today that State of Origin is a game "which is about Queensland and New South Wales; it's owned by the fans.
"I don't like to see things like the games going to Melbourne and I'm really hopeful that what we do here today is an announcement that it isn't going to Melbourne, say, every second year."
He said he had told rugby league's hierarchy that Queensland would "not write out big cheques - taxpayer funds - to actually win the rights to hold a game that was started here 30 years ago".
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"If a game's going to Sydney, so be it; our guys will play a bit harder, I'm sure. That won't help NSW turn back the tide."
Mr Newman said the refusal of the NRL to hold a grand final in Brisbane, and the AFL denying Brisbane the right to host a grand final, were proof of the hold NSW and Victoria had over both codes.
"What gets me, NSW, they're the ones who've got the squirrel grip on rugby league. In terms of AFL, the thought of it coming out of Melbourne one year, that wouldn't happen. As Premier it cheese me off."
Mr Newman said that if the AFL was ' fair dinkum' then the Gabba, for example, should be able to host an AFL grand final.
Queensland lost out the last time a series followed a Melbourne Origin match with its hosting rights passed over, enabling the Blues to go three years without having to play two matches in Brisbane.
In a new seven-year Origin schedule to be unveiled at a media conference at NRL headquarters today, the Blues will host the first and final games of the 2013 series. The Maroons will play Game Two at Suncorp Stadium next year, but the venue will stage two games in 2014.
The big loser in the new deal is Victoria, which gets only one game - the first game in 2015 - in the new seven-year deal.
The change will make it an uphill battle for the Maroons to maintain their hold over the Blues. Since 1999, Queensland has had a 31 per cent win rate in Sydney, compared with 72 per cent at Suncorp Stadium.
Statistics also show that penalty counts favour the home team, handing the hosts a double bonus of their home supporters and sympathetic referees.
Statistics also show NSW wins penalty counts at home but since 2006 the penalty count has favoured the home team 51-38 at Suncorp Stadium
Maroons coach Mal Meninga and the state's rugby league bosses had been supremely confident that Queensland would host its two matches next year as per the time-honoured arrangement.
Meninga and his team have fought the odds for their unprecedented Origin streak.
The seven-year deal is also a blow for New Zealand, which had also expressed interest in hosting Origin matches in a bid to grow the game.
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