The 1908 Interstate rugby league series was the first series of matches between the then newly formed

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

rugby league football teams. In what was

rugby league in Australia Rugby league in Australia has been one of Australia's most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2009, it was the most watched spor ...

's first year, three matches were played in July and all were won by New South Wales. These matches began the tradition of annual series between New South Wales and Queensland that would go on to form the basis of the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...

. Following the success of the 1907–08 All Golds tour, the

Queensland rugby league team The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales rugby league team ...

went on to arrange three games against New South Wales at the Sydney Agricultural Ground. Although remaining winless, thrashed 43-0 and 37-8 in the first two games, the tight 12-3 result in the third match gave Queensland its first-ever rugby league stars, with

Mick Bolewski Michael Patrick Bolewski (; 1888–1974) was a pioneering Australian international representative rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He, along with his three brothers, Henry, Alec and Walter, became a pioneering Queensla ...

Bill Hardcastle William Robert Hardcastle (30 August 1874 – 11 July 1944) born in Wellington, New Zealand was a pioneer New Zealand and Australian rugby union player and an Australian rugby league footballer. He represented both countries in union and Austra ...

Bill Heidke Wilhelm Gustaf "Bill" Heidke (1883–1959) was a pioneer Australian rugby league player. He was a backline player for the Australian national team. He played in four Tests between 1908 and 1910, once as captain. Rugby union career Heidke grew ...

and

Jack Fihelly John Arthur Fihelly (7 November 1882 – 2 March 1945) was a public servant, politician and rugby union player who represented Australia, a professional rugby league footballer, and a founder of the Queensland Rugby League Early life Fihel ...

all being selected for the first-ever Kangaroo tour to England.

Game 1

Still some months away from having their own competition, Queensland traveled to Sydney to play

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

football against New South Wales for the first time. NSW team for first interstate RL match

Queensland: 1. E Baird, 2. W Abrahams, 3. W Heidke, 4. M Bolewski, 5. A O'Brien, 6. O Olsen, 7. M Dore (c), 8. W Hardcastle, 9. J Fihelly, 10. V Anderson, 11. R Tubman, 12. E Cartmill, 13. J Thompson New South Wales: 1. C Hedley, 2. F Cheadle, 3. H Mssenger, 4. A Morton, 5. T Anderson, 6. S Deane, 7. A Butler, 8. L O'Malley, 9. W Cann, 10. T McCabe, 11.

L Jones L, or l, is the twelfth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''el'' (pronounced ), plural ''els''. History Lamedh ...

, 12. R Graves, 13. A Hennessy (c) With the likes of the great Dally Messenger, Billy Cann, Jersey O'Malley and skipper Arthur Hennessy in their ranks the Blues represented the cream of the newly established NSWRFL, whilst Queensland had done well to assemble a team as they had not yet established a club competition. It was no surprise, then, that NSW proved far superior in this inaugural meeting, with South Sydney winger Tommy Anderson posting four tries as the Blues raced to a 43-0 win.

Game 2

New South Wales selected a completely new team for the second match. This is regarded as an exhibition match and is not included in official interstate rugby league totals. Queensland: 1. M Bolewski, 2. A O'Brien, 3. W Evans, 4. O Olsen, 5. W Abrahams, 6. E Anlezark, 7. M Dore (c), 8. J Fihelly, 9. V Anderson, 10. W Hardcastle, 11. P Dwyer, 12. E Cartmill, 13. J Thompson New South Wales: 1. H Bloomfield, 2. A Broomham, 3. E Fry, 4. A Conlon (c), 5. D Frawley, 6. J Leveson, 7. L Hansen, 8. E Courtney, 9. J Abercrombie, 10. S Carpenter, 11. V Harris, 12. P Moir, 13. H Brackenreg

Game 3

Queensland: 1. M Bolewski, 2. W Abrahams, 3. A O'Brien, 4. W Evans, 5. O Olsen, 6. J Baird, 7. W Heidke (c), 8. J Fihelly, 9. V Anderson, 10. R Tubman, 11. E Cartmill, 12. J Thompson, 13. P Walsh New South Wales: 1. H Bloomfield, 2. A Broomham, 3. E Fry, 4. A Conlon (c), 5. B McCarthy, 6. J Leveson, 7. L Hansen, 8. H Glanville, 9. H Brackenreg, 10.

, 11. P Moir, 12. D Green, 13. E Courtney The last game of the series was played on a slippery Royal Agricultural Ground before approximately 6,000. In what was described as a fast match, New South Wales led 5-3 at half time, keeping the Queenslanders out eventually winning 12-3.

References

{{Reflist Rugby League State of Origin Interstate series