Source: Radio New Zealand
Blues’ Zac Lomax (R) and Maroons’ Kalyn Ponga contest a high-ball during game two of the men’s State of Origin series between the Queensland Maroons and New South Wales Blues at Optus Stadium in Perth on June 18, 2025. COLIN MURTY / AFP
Mate against mate, state against state – but exported. Why Auckland will host Australian rugby league’s premier event next year.
After months of speculation, the government has confirmed a State of Origin match will make its way across the ditch to Eden Park in 2027.
Tāmaki Makaurau will be considered neutral ground in 2027 as the Maroons take on the Blues at Eden Park for what is widely acknowledged to be rugby league’s most exciting fixture.
Today on The Detail, NZ Herald journalist and host of The Big League podcast, Nathan Limm talks about the motivation behind the NRL’s move to host an Australian regional game in another country.
“There’s obviously a little bit of ‘why is New Zealand getting it?’ [coming from Australians], which is actually similar to the kind of response that it had on this side of the Tasman as well.”
But he says despite all the commentary, the announcement shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“The NRL has made it clear for a number of years that they want to expand the game.”
The match is expected to be a sellout, with officials estimating that the event will inject $17.4 million into the economy. It was announced by the Prime Minister, who said the government had reached into its major events fund to secure the match. That amount is thought to range between $2.5 million and $5m.
New Zealand fans have long been engaged in the State of Origin, but kiwis have more of a reason to cheer their side on with the recent change in eligibility rules.
“We should have more kiwis, more New Zealand players, who have that affiliation with New South Wales or Queensland playing in State of Origin,” says Limm.
Previously players could be ruled out if they used their New Zealand connections to play at an international level for the Kiwis, but that’s been changed, so our players with childhood links to either of the states can play.
For example former national rep Addin Fonua-Blake, who has played for New Zealand and Tonga, is now eligible for New South Wales as well.
The NRL is also making concentrated efforts to grow the game internationally, and is staging part of the first round of this year’s NRL in Las Vegas.
Limm also talks on the podcast about those moves to expand the game, with new teams entering the NRL from Perth (from next year) and Papua New Guinea (2028), as well as the prospect of a South Island team signing up.
Part of the decision to come to Auckland was fed by support for the Warriors, the only team in the NRL currently to have an entire nation behind it.
And the podcast asks the age-old Warriors question – “is it our year?”
Well … maybe.
Coach Andrew Webster “has been able to completely… overhaul and reset the culture of the team, which is ultimately where it all starts, and that has impacted their on-field performances,” says Limm.
Despite the Warriors and rugby league as a sport becoming more popular in New Zealand, there is still one team they can’t compete with.
“There’s one thing that rugby has that no other sport in New Zealand will ever quite get, and that’s the All Blacks and the pull that the All Blacks hold.
“Regardless of what’s going on in domestic rugby or super rugby, when the All Blacks play, we as a nation get around them and really identify with that team,” says Limm.
Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.
You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
