Queensland Professor, Liam Beetson from the University of Milton believes he has the answer to helping New South Wales finally get Origin – education.
Professor Beetson, who’s currently in Sydney on exchange is offering a six-week comprehensive course called “Origin 101” where students will learn everything from Cattledog, Queenslander, deep dives into Gus Gould’s final words from the channel 9 coverage from over the years, and of course the idea, of mate against mate – state against state.
“State of Origin is the greatest thing in the world,” Professor Beetson told Neds.
Professor Beetson during a maths lesson.
“There is nothing more important than it. If I can’t reach out to those south of the tweed, who don’t get it, the whole thing could end up like the Bledisloe Cup.”
HISTORICAL NOTE: The Bledisloe Cup was once played between Australia and New Zealand in Rugby Union and was once one of the most watched and biggest sporting events of the year when it was actually competitive instead of New Zealand winning it 21 times in a row.
“If Queensland keeps dominating like they have for the past 25 years, even though I live for it and it’s the greatest thing in the world and it means more to me and my family than my actual family myself, I can’t bear to see that happen.”
Current enrolments for the course in Sydney are slim, with most students stuck in traffic or lining up to see a rental property but Professor Beetson remains defiant that his course can help New South Wales finally get Origin.
He has even brought in some of the big guns, in Blues legends Geoff Toovey and Mark Spudd Carroll to assist with the students.
He said the line.
“This is a bloody joke” Spudd Carroll told Neds.
Geoff Toovey was more even critical of Professor Beetson’s course that teaches New South Welshmen the meaning of Origin, “This is ridiculous and there needs to be an investigation”
One of the students currently enrolled in the Origin 101 course is prominent Sydney LinkedIn-fluencer and property developer, Jack Hemmes.
Loves the “Swannies”
Mr Hemmes claims to be a huge footy fan and wants to get Origin, but his intentions are not as pure as what the course sets out.
“I love the footy. Go Swannies. I was there the day Plugger Lockyer kicked 1000 tries, and also for Buddy Slater.”
In a class excursion to the eighth wonder of the world, Leichhardt Oval, Hemmes believed he could buy the stadium and convert it into “Eighth Wonder Apartments” and turn the Wayne Pearce Hill into a wine bar called Wine Pearce Hill complete with wood-fired pizza oven. 
Jack Hemmes has big plans for the future of the eighth wonder.
When asked about his student, Professor Beetson believes its people like Jack Hemmes he really needs to reach out to for New South Wales to get Origin.
“I was trying to teach the concept of Cattledog to him in class the other day, he struggled to understand it, so I put it in his language and told him he was outbid on a two bedroom apartment in Newtown, it sure did fire him up, but I’ve got a long way to go.”
The Origin 101 course is currently being featured by Neds chief investigative reporter, the Kent-Award-winning, Dylan McKenzie just in time for Game 1 of the 2024 series.
Will New South Wales finally get it?
The results won’t be in the classroom but on the footy field.
Enjoy your Origin football.