AFL State Of Origin Just Not Landing Quite As Well As NRL Rivalry That Queenslanders Think Is 1000 Years Old

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The entire population north of the Murray river is reeling after collectively learning the AFL  had a State Of Origin last week.

"I mean most AFL news doesn't make it to me but a State Of Origin not even making a blip on my radar? Crazy" said Paul Isles (37) from Newcastle.

The AFL State Of Origin which pits the state of Victoria against the state of Western Australia, didn't quite grip the nation as much as many had hoped, with a viewership of just under 2 million, barely a third of the NRL's 5.6 million State Of Origin viewers.

"Did they even advertise it? I genuinely had no idea this was even a thing" said a confused member of the public in Brisbane's northern suburbs.

Across New South Wales and Queensland, many sports fans said the first time they heard about the match was when hearing how poorly it performed in viewership.

Broadcast analysts noted it lacked the sense of grand occasion and genuine cultural rivalry between the states that defines rugby league’s version.

"What Victorians miss is that even the most sports-averse Queenslanders will tune into the Origin just to see them get one over NSW" explained one analyst.

“There’s nothing wrong with the concept, it just doesn’t yet carry the same history or shared meaning”

Much of the AFL world has resorted to loudly reminding everyone that they came up with the concept of state of origin first in response to the bad ratings.