Women's State of Origin : 2025

There is strong and ongoing rivalry between New South Wales (Blues) and Queensland (Maroons) in rugby league. I've covered the Interstate Challenge (1999-2017) and the State of Origin (2018-2024) for the women's game and by clicking on each of those titles you can see the history.

Moving on to 2025, the three match series has been completed. The results are as follows:

Game 1: Held in Brisbane, Queensland the score was 12-14 at half time to the visitors but blew out in the second with NSW scoring 18 unanswered points. 

Final score: Queensland 12-32 NSW. Attendance 26,000.

Game 2: Down in Sydney another tight first half had the hosts up 12-6 at the break but another scoreless half for Queensland while conceding 14 points was another surprising capitulation.

Final score NSW 26-6 Queensland. Attendance 16,000.

Game 3: The game was played on neutral ground at Newcastle. Well, Blues territory officially. Anyway, NSW led 8-6 at the break. They had one try disallowed for technically not grounding the ball but I thought pedantic. That decision was crucial as the Maroons mounted a spirited second half which they won 12-6 and the game.

Final score NSW 14-18 Queensland. Attendance N/A.

The series went to the Blues 2-1 and that makes the eight State of Origin series shared four each although one of those was drawn but given to Queensland on a superior points differential (I presume). NSW have won 7 matches and Queensland six, with the Blues scoring 212 points and the Maroons 173. 

To see highlights of the final game, simply click here.

France Elite 2 : 2024/25

For this season in the second division, US Entraigues XIII had been relegated and two sides were promoted, Pamiers and Realmont. There were still nine sides because while one club was promoted to Elite 1, none were relegated. 

Palau were fifth in 2023-24 but won the division this season. Villegailhenc Aragon were second again and Ille-sur-Têt retained their third spot. Both of the new sides acquitted themselves well enough, with Pamier even making the play offs. 

The first round of the finals featured the sides finishing third to sixth. Both of the teams that finished higher in the league won their matches. Carpentras 30-22 and Ille-sur-Têt 25-8. Sterner tests were to face them in the next round.

So it proved with both winners of the quarter finals ending their season in the semi finals. The winners went into the grand final and as both were the best two in the league well deserved. Villegailhenc was a losing grand finalist last year, but could they go one better?

It was not to be as Palau - quarter final loser from the previous season - went two better this year in winning narrowly 20-17. Tough for Villegailhenc to lose again and by such a close margin but congratulations to Palau who backed up their league title with the grand final trophy. I assume Palau will be now promoted to the Elite 1. 

France Elite 1 : 2024/25

The top French rugby league competition increased in number from ten to eleven for this season with no clubs being relegated. The new team was Villefranche XIII Aveyron, promoted from Elite 2.

Albi came in the top of the Elite 1 league table. Albi had narrowly lost the Lord Derby Cup final but showed they were the best team over the twenty rounds of the league. The last time they took the league title was way back in the 1961-62 season!

Carcassonne have won the league six times since in the previous nine it was held so while that is a fine run, this season they fell just short. St Estève-Catalan came together in the 2000-01 season and have collected four titles in that time. 

Pia have been back in Elite 1 for three years and and have been a model of consistency. A fifth and now two fourth placings. Limoux won the league in 2017-18 season and is usually near the top of the league.

The play offs had third to sixth playing. Pia narrowly lost to Limoux while Villeneuve won 34-12 against St Estève-Catalan. The two lower finishing sides prevailing over their perhaps more fancied opponents. 

The two top league teams returned to take on the above mentioned winners. In both matches, they came out on top, Albi 26-8 over Limoux and Carcassone 11-6 against  Villeneuve. The latter scoreline was closer than I expected. 

The grand final saw Abli add to its league title with a 26-16 victory. They clearly were the best team over the season. They went so close to winning the treble but two out of three ain't bad. 

NRL Attendances 2025 (Rounds 1-11)

Statistics even themselves out over a prolonged period such as a complete season. For now, we have eleven rounds which gives an idea of how attendance figures are going with clubs in the NRL. So what can we learn?

Winners: The total is up 7.6% with Magic Weekend included in the total average but not in the club average. Comparing 2025 with 2000 to 2024 has the average up 29.5%.

Brisbane continues to confound me with its ongoing increases when I've assumed they have reached a ceiling. The Canterbury Bulldogs have had a ripper both on field and with crowds, the latter helped by a bumper Easter Weekend turnout.

Canberra and Penrith have done well but mainly due to having a 'home game' in Las Vegas. Penrith needed that badly as their home game numbers are being badly affected by having to travel to another stadium while theirs is redeveloped. The average will be down this year.

Two other clubs to benefit through an anomaly are Cronulla and South Sydney when they they were involved in a double header. As the season passes, these one off benefits will have less effect on the average.  

Losers: Two make into double figure territory and they are also holding up the list. They are also the only two that are below the 21st century average. The Gold Coast has always been a challenging area for rugby league and the St George - Illawarra joint venture possibly is not helped by taking games to to two venues. 

The other five sides down on 2023 as not so far off the pace that they can't improve. The NZ Warriors have a capacity issue that will make getting an actual increase from here impossible.

For any unfamiliar with the game, the video above will explain all. 

Super League Attendances 2025 (Rounds 1-9)

Super League is in some ways struggling as future media deals to maintain the competition's financial situation are uncertain. Clubs are dependent on owners to balance the books which is not uncommon in sports generally. Hopefully, SL clubs can continue to rely on such benefactors.  

Crowd support is an important part of a club's earnings so how are the numbers in 2025, comparing a complete 2024 with nine rounds so far in 2025? They are up 17% which is impressive although it does come with some provisos which will be mentioned as we go along.

Winners: Wigan is top of the list with a 24,600 average, up 64.8%. They did get a boost playing a game in  Las Vegas but even without that, they have done really well. Hull FC is much improved in terms of performance and the supporters are responding with the attendance average up 29.3%. 

Wakefield returned to the top flight and they also have a nicely refurbished stadium. These two factors have pushed spectator numbers up 40.1% compared to their crowd numbers in the Championship (division 2). The fact that they replaced London means the increase against that club is 147.8% which does add an unavoidable distortion in 2025. 

Salford has been sailing close to the wind financially and without a well heeled backer to rely upon things came to a head in 2025. Unable to play their strongest roster due to restrictions and gradually offloading good players they should never had signed in the first place has affected performances. 

Yet the fans have been remarkably loyal and so far attendance numbers are up 3.4%. Hopefully this sorry state can be sorted and the club will now spend what it can sustainably afford which I'm confident it will. 

Losers: Not the same number of candidates. In terms of attendees, Castleford is the disappointment. Their on field performances are at their usual not too successful standards. Has near neighbour Wakefield's improved situation left them feeling neglected? 

Ceiling dwellers: Hull KR (stadium capacity) and Leigh (population size) have plateaued. I wonder what it would do for KR's average if there was more capacity. I'm thinking the stadium is OK for most games with more popular opponents the times when more seats would be useful. Leigh has a 12,000 stadium so they are presumably at a ceiling.