The 2015 State of Origin series was the 34th time the annual best-of-three series between the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

rugby league teams to be played entirely under 'state of origin' rules (1980 and 1981 were only one game series). It was the third series to be administered by the

Australian Rugby League Commission The Australian Rugby League Commission Limited (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League Limited known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australi ...

which was created in a major restructure of the sport's administration in Australia. This series had one game played in each of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with Game I played at the 83,500 capacity

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

, Game II played at the 100,024 capacity

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

, and Game III played at the 52,500 capacity

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

. Former Canberra, Queensland and Australian captain

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the game's history. He enjoyed a long ca ...

was coach of the Queensland side, whose eight-year State of Origin series winning streak was ended by New South Wales in 2014. The Blues were coached by former Canberra, NSW and Australia captain

Laurie Daley Laurie William Daley AM (born 20 October 1969), also known by the nicknames of "Lozza" and "Loz", is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and a former player who played as a and in the late 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. ...

for a third consecutive year.

Game I

National Anthem: Josh Piterman

Game II

National Anthem: Claire Lyon

Game III

National Anthem: Australian Girls Choir and

Danielle de Niese Danielle de Niese (born 11 April 1979) is an Australian-American lyric soprano. After success as a young child in singing competitions in Australia, she moved to the United States where she developed her operatic career. From 2005 she came to ...

Corey Parker was awarded the Wally Lewis medal for player of the series.

Teams

The 18th, 19th & 20th man are reserves to cover for any forthcoming injuries to the selected squad and, unless chosen, do not actually play.

New South Wales Blues

1 - Gallen retained the captaincy role from Farah in Game II. 2 - Robbie Farah was originally chosen to play in Game lll but withdrew due to a hand injury, he was replaced by Michael Ennis on game day.

Queensland Maroons

1 -

Daly Cherry-Evans Daly Cherry-Evans (born 20 February 1989) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League. Regarded as one of the best halfbacks of the modern ga ...

was originally selected to play in game one but withdrew due to injury. He was replaced by Michael Morgan, then Morgan retained his spot on the bench in Game II and III.

Residents

Under-20s

Women's Interstate Challenge

Records

Game II achieved the highest ever attendance for a State of Origin Game, with a crowd of 91,513 people in attendance. Game III saw numerous records broken: *Game III achieved the highest ever attendance for a match at Suncorp Stadium, with a crowd of 52,500 people in attendance. *Queensland captain

Cameron Smith Cameron or Cam Smith may refer to: * Cammie Smith (Cameron Wilberforce Smith, born 1933), West Indian cricketer * Cam Smith (artist), British comic book artist * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1983), Australian rugby league player * Cameron S ...

made his 36th Queensland appearance, drawing level with

Darren Lockyer Darren James Lockyer (born 24 March 1977) is an Australian television commentator and former professional rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire profe ...

for most appearances for Queensland. *

Johnathan Thurston Johnathan Dean Thurston (born 25 April 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League (NRL). Thurston was an Australian international, Queensland State of Origin and Indigenous All ...

scored 18 points, equalling

Lote Tuqiri Lote Daulako Tuqiri (born 23 September 1979) is a former professional dual-code rugby footballer who primarily played as a winger across both codes. He represented Australia in both rugby league and rugby union, and Fiji in rugby league. Tuqir ...

's for most points in a single match by a Queenslander. In addition, Thurston kicked 9 goals from 9 attempts, an Origin record. *With a 52-6 victory, Queensland equaled their record for highest State of Origin score, and broke the record for largest winning margin in State of Origin history, with a 46-point winning margin.

References

{{2015 in rugby league State of Origin series

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two States and territories of Australia, Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales Blues and the Queensland ru ...