The NRL have confirmed the opening game of the 2025 State of Origin series will be played in Perth.
It will be the third time the interstate series heads to Perth, and sixth time in seven years that a neutral venue has been used for one of the three games in the series.
That comes with the opening game of next year's 2024 series to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as it was in 2018. The opening game of this year's series was played at the Adelaide Oval.
The only time that run was broken was during the COVID-hit 2021 series, when all three games had to be played in Queensland - on that occasion, one of the games were supposed to be played in Melbourne.
The announcement comes following speculation that the NRL could have been exploring the option of taking an Origin game to New Zealand as soon as 2025. One way or another, the game's governing body have previously promised "more rugby league content" for New Zealand in the coming years.
Previously, the Blues have turned Perth into something of a home ground, winning both games played in the west convincingly by scorelines of 38 to 6 in 2019, and 44 to 12 in 2022.
โState of Origin in Perth has been an outstanding success and we're delighted to be able to continue this partnership with the Western Australian Government,โ Australian Rugby League Commissioner Kate Jones said in a sttaement confirming the venue of the 2025 series opener.
โThere is already strong support for Rugby League in Western Australia and our ongoing commitment to grow the game in areas outside of Rugby League heartlands will ensure even more people are attracted to the game by the biggest sporting rivalry in the country.
โWe are privileged to bring State of Origin back to Perth and I'd like to thank Premier Roger Cook, Deputy Premier and Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti and the Western Australian Government for their ongoing support of Rugby League.โ
The announcement follows a double-header in the NRL in Perth on Saturday.
