{"id":32429,"date":"2026-06-16T12:29:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T12:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/32429\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T12:29:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T12:29:32","slug":"when-is-state-of-origin-ii-kick-off-time-and-how-to-watch-blues-vs-maroons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/32429\/","title":{"rendered":"When is State of Origin II? Kick-off time and how to watch Blues vs Maroons"},"content":{"rendered":"

New South Wales can regain the men’s State of Origin shield on Wednesday night, as Game II of the series is played at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.<\/p>\n

The Blues came from 20 points down to defeat Queensland in Game I, with the sending off of Maroons fullback Kalyn Ponga the critical turning point in the match.<\/p>\n

The Maroons must win to keep the series alive for the final match of the series, which will be held in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

Here is what you need to know before kick-off of Game II this Wednesday, June 17.<\/p>\n

Where can I watch State of Origin Game II?<\/p>\n

The Nine Network has the broadcast rights to the State of Origin series.<\/p>\n

Game II will be televised on Channel Nine and streamed online via 9Now.<\/p>\n

You can follow the action wherever you are on the ABC Sport live blog.<\/p>\n

You can listen to the ABC Sport live call<\/a> with commentator Andrew Moore, with expert analysis by Luke Lewis, Matthew Elliot and John Gibbs, plus Ian Cohen.<\/p>\n

What time is State of Origin Game II kick-off?<\/p>\n

Here is when the kick-off is scheduled in your location.<\/p>\n

8:05pm: NSW, Queensland, ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Papua New Guinea7:35pm: South Australia, Northern Territory6:05pm: Western Australia10:05pm: New Zealand, Fiji11:05pm: Samoa, Tonga12:05am: Cook IslandsWhat happened in Game I?<\/p>\n

New South Wales pulled off the largest comeback in State of Origin, overcoming a 20-point deficit to win 22-20 at Stadium Australia in Sydney.<\/p>\n

State of Origin I<\/a><\/p>\n

James Tedesco scores a spectacular try with 90 seconds left in State of Origin I, capping off a 20-point comeback after Queensland fullback Kalyn Ponga is sent off for a shoulder charge.<\/p>\n

Queensland raced out to a 20-0 lead in the first half, and led 20-6 at half-time.<\/p>\n

But the defining moment of the match came in the 57th minute when Maroons fullback Kalyn Ponga was sent off<\/a> for a shoulder charge that made contact with the head of Blues winger Tolutau Koula.<\/p>\n

The visitors were down to 12 men for the remaining 23 minutes, desperately trying to hold on to their 14-point lead.<\/p>\n

But the Blues would score three tries, including a stunning individual effort from fullback James Tedesco in the 79th minute, to steal the win.<\/p>\n

Where is State of Origin Game II being played?<\/p>\n

Game II of the series will be played in neutral territory, although history suggests the Blues will feel right at home.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is the location of Game II, hosting a State of Origin match for the first time since 2024.<\/p>\n

The MCG has hosted six State of Origin matches, with the Blues winning five of those.<\/p>\n

1994: NSW def. Queensland 14-01995: Queensland def. NSW 20-121997: NSW def. Queensland 15-142015: NSW def. Queensland 26-182018: NSW def. Queensland 22-122024: NSW def. Queensland 38-18Who is playing for the Blues and Maroons?State of Origin II teamsNSW\u00a0QLDJames Tedesco1Kalyn PongaBrian To’o2Selwyn CobboTolutau Koula3Rob ToiaKotoni Staggs4Hamiso Tabuai-FidowMark Nawaqanitawase^5Jojo FifitaMitchell Moses6Cameron Munster (C)Nathan Cleary7Sam WalkerPayne Haas8Tom FleglerReece Robson9Harry GrantMitch Barnett10Tino Fa’asuamaleauiHudson Young11Briton NikoraDylan Lucas^12Kurt CapewellIsaah Yeo (C)13Reuben CotterCameron Murray14Max PlathVictor Radley15Lindsay CollinsAddin Fonua-Blake16Kulikefu Finefeuiaki^Apisai Koroisau17Trent LoieroEthan Strange18Reece WalshJack Bostock^19Murray Taulagi<\/p>\n

* Reserves: NSW \u2014 Haumole Olakau’atu; Qld \u2014 Heilum Luki<\/p>\n

^ Potential debutant<\/p>\n

When and where are the other matches?<\/p>\n

Game III: Wednesday, July 8, Lang Park, Brisbane, Queensland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New South Wales can regain the men’s State of Origin shield on Wednesday night, as Game II of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[9383,12298,29426,260,355,596,29425,211,212,3771],"class_list":["post-32429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-blues","tag-maroons","tag-mcg","tag-melbourne","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nsw","tag-origin","tag-qld","tag-queensland","tag-state-of-origin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}