State of Origin match to be played at Adelaide Oval in 2020

IN a move that has already perplexed South Australian residents, the NRL this morning announced a State of Origin match would head to Adelaide Oval in 2020.

NSW's David Klemmer during State of Origin. Picture: Brett Costello

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IN a move that has already perplexed South Australian residents, the NRL this morning announced a State of Origin match would head to Adelaide Oval in 2020.

The multimillion-dollar agreement with the South Australian government follows last year’s announcement that one of the 2019 clashes between NSW and Queensland would be played out at the new Optus Stadium in Perth.

It is unclear which of the three 2020 matches will be played in Adelaide but it is believed the NRL won’t allocate game three of the series in a bid to avoid a possible dead rubber being played out in front of an AFL-passionate state.

Jarryd Hayne is tackled into touch. Picture: Brett Costello

South Australia Tourism Minister Leon Bignell told Adelaide radio station FIVEaa the match would be a huge boost for the state.

“We expect 30 per cent of the people who go to the game will come from interstate. That’s going to pump $15 million into the economy,” he said on Wednesday.

“We’re hoping to get the middle game, which is obviously a really crucial one. That’s on a Sunday. The only problem is we’ll have to work with the AFL.”

Predictably, South Australians were less than enthused about this morning’s announcement.

Finally State of Origin rugby league returns to its heartland - Adelaide

— Kris Read (@DesignedToFade) February 13, 2018

It’s okay, we don’t follow NRL or State of Origin.

— Jackson Stokes (@JacksonStokes1) February 13, 2018

And then this pearler from former NSW player and NRL premiership winner Jamie Soward:

So shit. State of origin is QLD vs NSW

— Jamie Soward (@sowwowofficial6) February 13, 2018

Originally published as State of Origin match to be played at Adelaide Oval in 2020