Men's State of Origin : 2026

The 2026 series had momentum swings, both in the games and the series. 

Game 1: In Sydney, the visiting Queensland Maroons took an early 18-0 lead, and at the 57th minute mark were ahead 20-6. A player was sent off, a momentum swing then went the NSW Blues way. They went on to win 22-20, the last try scored with two minutes to go. 

Game 2: Played in Melbourne in front of a record 92,000 fans, the first half was a bit of a slog as NSW came off ahead 12-8. The second half was a Queensland onslaught as they raced away to win 44-24. Criticism about a lack of fight was levelled at the Blues, and the coach was under fire too. 

Game 3: 52,000 crammed into Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. The Maroons were hot favourites but trailed 18-0 after 30 minutes. They came back to trail 8-18, but the swing was not sustained. NSW ran away with the game 30-12

Summary: Critical momentum swings were evident. The winners of each game had big second half swings in their favour. It's hard to say which side was better. At times, they outplayed each other, but not consistently so. The aggregate scores of 76-76 probably say it all.

History: Queensland has won 62% of the series, won 54% of the games and scored 53% of the points. NSW has won six of the last nine series. 

The game three highlight video is below:

SL Attendances: 2000-2025

The data to the right covers the average over the past twenty five years (2021 didn't take place). The 'Yrs' colum is the number of years clubs have been in the top flight. Most of the clubs that have been consistently present are toward the top of the list. 

The names in yellow signify those not currently in SL. York is absent although in SL for 2026 because it wasn't ever during the period considered here.

Leeds leads from Wigan, the two best supported clubs. Toronto did very well considering the sport is a novelty in Canada without any history of note. 

The Crusaders Club was founded in Bridgend, Wales as the Celtic Crusaders. They relocated to Wrexham as simply the Crusaders. They are now the North Wales Crusaders in the second division. 

London is very poor for the number of years they were in Super League. With new owners and likely readmission to SL, the hope is that average will improve. 

SL Attendances : 2026 (half term report)

Attendances for the UK elite division in 2026 are up 0.2% on the complete 2025 figure. A positive result, but barely so. Going to 14 teams has lifted total attendances but as all the new clubs are below the average, it hasn't affected the average. 

A recent issue is playing a few games in the USA. Wigan in 2025 (45,209) and Hull KR in 2026 (45,719) has affected their averages greatly. I just can't ignore their 'home game' overseas and the people that turned up to watch.

I was going to do historical averages as I did with the NRL. However, with promotion and relegation it was going to be fiddly to do. I might do a piece separately on that.