Go the Blues!

I haven't wandered far from my front door today. Been psyching myself up for tonight's State of Origin opener between New South Wales and Queensland at Sydney's Olympic Stadium.

It's the 34th year of the interstate rugby-league war, and the NSW Blues - who have been defeated in the three-match series for the past seven years - are desperate to go one up against the Queensland Maroons.

For the uninitiated, let me say this. Not only are they as highly emotionally charged as in any such rivalry in any sport anywhere, Origin matches are the most unyieldingly combative and brutally tough encounters this side of the Colosseum.

I give it to the Blues tonight, by 6 points.