CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
It’s mate versus mate. State versus state. Not since the era of gladiatorial combat have we seen a competition so fierce. The rivalries between these teams date back decades. It’s more than football. It’s about pride. It’s about love and hate and loyalty and mateship.
It’s about the State Of Origin.
And local mother-of-three Debbie Cunningham (50) could not give less of a fuck.
Like hundreds of thousands of long-suffering black sheeps in both New South Wales and Queensland right now, Debbie does not really care for sport.
Her daughter (17) is different. She enjoys the thrill of the competition, and good for her. Sometimes Debbie will endure televised sport to encourage her. In fact, the Matildas world cup dash last year made for the type of family bonding not seen since the finale of Love My Way.
But that’s about it. An Australian FIFA Women’s World Cup is the only thing that will get Debbie over the line. No matter how much the rest of her family attempt to drag her along.
Her husband is a tragic, and often has to be reined in at social events to stop talking about his fucking football team to people who are pretending to care as much as he does.
And her sons (20 & 22), to put it frankly, are mouth-breathing meatheads whose personal finances need to be carefully examined by both parents due to their degenerate online gambling habits.
So it’s not surprise that Debbie is conscientously objecting to the festivities that will be taking place in the living room tonight.
“I should have known Origin was happening tonight” she said.
“For the past week I’ve had to stop talking every time the news came on so that my husband could turn the TV up to full volume and listen to journalists discuss ‘team selections’ and supersitious nonsense”
As Debbie points out, the Australian football season never seems to end, so she’s often unaware when an actual ‘big match’ is on.
But she knows enough to know that State Of Origin is something that will be taking over the TV screen for up to 3 hours tonight.
“I’m thrilled” says Debbie.
“I get a full uninterrupted evening with my new book”
As someone who also insists on pretending that she dislikes fast food, Debbie secretly appreciates the fact that it just makes sense to order pizza for dinner when State Of Origin is on.
