It's billed as "State against State, mate against mate"...and it's over for another 12 months.

Every time this year, as winter takes hold with the weather, Rugby League fans await in anticipation of who will come out on top in the traditional 'State of Origin' series played between Queensland (the Maroons) and New South Wales (the Blues).   

It is a rivalry that is rather hard to match across the globe given the following stats leading up to this years three game series;

matches played - 78
Qld game wins - 38
NSW game wins - 38
tied games - 2
Qld series wins - 11
NSW series wins - 12
tied series - 2
total Qld points scored - 1236
total NSW points scored - 1242

Any way you slice it, these two teams are about as close to equally matched as you could possibly get over Origin's 27 year history (started in 1980). The 2007 series was billed as a classic; would Queensland build on last years series win or would New South Wales proves that 2006 was a mere blip on the radar as they strived for 4 series wins in the past 5 years?

Game one at Lang Park, Brisbane, saw a capacity crowd (mostly wearing maroon to show their home support for the Queenslanders) watch a game of two halves. New South Wales dominated the first half while the Queenslanders looked tired as the 40 minutes drew to a close with the scoreline reading 18 - 6 in the Blues' favour.

But things started going a bit pear shaped for the Blues after the teams came out for the second half. Queensland suddenly found it a bit easier to gain the yardage up the middle of the field, they weren't dropping the ball or falling off tackles, and it was New South Wales that looked to be struggling a little.

A crucial mistake by the debutant winger, Jarryd Hayne, saw Queensland hit the front, a lead they would not surrender for the rest of the match as they took a one-nil lead heading into the game in Sydney three weeks later...at the ground where Queensland had never won before; Telstra Stadium.

That match was marred by a referring blunder which, potentially, robbed the Blues a win. A forward pass was missed by the officials and Queensland duly scored the match (and series) winning try from it.

Uncompromising defence that typifies State of Origin clashes

So the circus returned back to a bitterly cold winter's night in Queensland (by Brisbane standards anyway. I was watching it on TV in NZ with the fire, heater and about five layers of clothing on at 10pm) for the dead-rubber match. Queensland were looking for a series sweep while New South Wales wanted to prevent one. Halftime came and the score was 6-4 in favour of New South Wales...but it only told half the story. While New South Wales had their full compliment of four players they could bring in off the bench (you're allowed 12 interchanges throughout the 80 minutes so player rotation is vital), Queensland had one. Both Maroons' wingers were gone with leg injuries while a backup forward had been concussed in the first ten seconds of play attempting a tackle.

Now, usually, this gives a team extra motivation as they know they have to dig that little bit deeper to pull off a spectacular upset...but it rarely happens as the fast pace of the game catches up with them and the final twenty minutes becomes little more than a training session for the team with the fresh players.

Queensland have always had the reputation of doing the impossible (Mark Coyne's winning try in 1994 after the fulltime siren had sounded and the passage of play went through a ridiculous amount of passes, Tony Carroll's winning try in 1998 from a "hail Mary" kick from inside their own half also on fulltime are just two examples) and for 73 minutes it looked like they could do it again. The commentators couldn't speak highly enough about the effort from Queensland (I lost count of how many times Phil Gould, former New South Wales coach, said "unbelievable!" as the Maroons snuffed out yet another Blues attack) but, like all good things, it wasn't to last. The final score ended up 18 - 4 as New South Wales ran in two tries in the last seven minutes of play to edge back in front of overall points (they now lead 1284 to 1275).

A truly classic end to a hard-fought contest between, arguably, the two best League teams in the world...certainly a great way to beat those winter blues (and given the fact that I'm a Queenslander, the pun is very much intended).

Oh and by the way...these guys don't bother with padding or helmets.

Back-to-back series wins...is a three-peat on the cards in 2008?