{"id":130193,"date":"2025-09-09T12:28:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/130193\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T12:28:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:28:07","slug":"nrl-eyes-first-ever-state-of-origin-in-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/130193\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL eyes first-ever State of Origin in New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NRL is preparing to take rugby league\u2019s biggest stage across the Tasman, with plans in motion to stage men\u2019s and women\u2019s State of Origin fixtures in New Zealand in consecutive years.<\/p>\n

In what would mark a landmark moment for rugby league, the Daily Telegraph has reported that the code\u2019s $100 million showpiece could head overseas for the first time in 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adding to the spectacle, the NRL has also explored the prospect of staging the first-ever women\u2019s Origin match outside Australia as early as 2026 in Christchurch.<\/p>\n

According to the Daily Telegraph, the proposal, dubbed \u201cAnzac Origin,\u201d would see Queensland and New South Wales\u2019 top stars compete in back-to-back trans-Tasman clashes in 2026 and 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Mitch Kenny injury update rocks Panthers ahead of finals campaign<\/a><\/p>\n

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo confirmed that talks with New Zealand authorities are well advanced, although a deal is yet to be finalised.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are taking a very close look at it,\u201d the NRL CEO told the media publication.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Zealand is such an important market for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some things that we need to work through contractually.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a plan to obviously announce a schedule on the draw for next year, but we now have a three-match women\u2019s and a three-match men\u2019s (Origin series).<\/p>\n

\u201cSo thinking about a growth market for both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s Origin is an opportunity for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the ARL Commission has expanded State of Origin into new frontiers in recent years \u2014 with Perth hosting in 2019 and Adelaide staging its first match the following season \u2014 a New Zealand expansion would mark the first time either the men\u2019s or women\u2019s series has been played internationally.<\/p>\n

Eden Park looms as the likely host for the men\u2019s game, with the iconic venue already boasting a history of staging major events, including the 2011 Rugby World Cup final and the NRL Nines between 2014 and 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Preliminary talks between the NRL and Auckland tourism officials began two years ago, and reports now indicate the New Zealand government is set to contribute between $3 million and $5 million to secure the blockbuster event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NRL is preparing to take rugby league\u2019s biggest stage across the Tasman, with plans in motion to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-130193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}