TV ratings: Locked-down NSW fans celebrate Origin win

NSW reclaimed the State of Origin crown with a 26-0 victory as nearly half of all viewers tuning in were confined to their homes.

Tom Trbojevic scores for NSW in game 2 of the State of Origin Series at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Peter Wallis

NSW reclaimed the rugby league’s State of Origin crown with a 26-0 victory as nearly half of all viewers tuning in were confined to their homes under a two-week lockdown.

Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour remain in lockdown until July 9 but many sports fans could still celebrate NSW clawing back the shield after a win interstate at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

Across the five major capital cities 1.86 million viewers tuned into Nine’s coverage for game two - this was slightly down on the 1.91 million viewers that tuned in for game 1 in Townsville on June 9.

Of those watching Sunday night’s match more than 972,000 Sydney viewers watched the Blues take the match, and the series.

The Blues’ force was powerful enough to keep the Maroons scoreless for the first time in nearly 30 years and also the first time at Suncorp Stadium.

Like many sports, Origin was thrown into disarray last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the matches were delayed until later in the year.

In 2020 the second Origin match which was played in November attracted 1.65 million viewers across the five major capital cities - but this was significantly down on viewers given the unusual timing of when the series was played.

In 2019 when there were no disruptions, game two drew 1.96 million viewers across the five major cities.

In the last decade game two attracted its largest audience across the five major cities in June 2014 when 2.68 million viewers tuned in.

At this stage the third match of the Origin series is due to still be played at Sydney’s Olympic stadium on Wednesday, July 14, but this remains under a cloud after the NSW Government last week enforced the two-week lockdown across Sydney and other parts of the state.

A crisis meeting will be held on Tuesday on whether to keep game three in Sydney as scheduled without crowds or to move the match to a location outside of the lockdown regions.