1983 State of Origin series
| 1983 State of Origin series | |
|---|---|
| Won by |
 Queensland (2nd title) |
| Series margin | 2-1 |
| Points scored | 117 |
| Attendance | 77,116 (ave. 25,705 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) |
Mal Meninga (30) |
| Top try scorer(s) |
 Chris Anderson (3) |
The 1983 State of Origin series was the second time the annual three-game series between the New South Wales and Queensland rugby league teams was played entirely under "state of origin" selection rules.
After the Australian team had swept all before them in 1982, including sweeping New Zealand in the mid-season tests, before embarking on the highly successful 1982 Kangaroo tour where they became the first touring side to go through undefeated, winning all three Ashes tests against Great Britain and the two tests against France, the 1983 State of Origin series was billed as something of an unofficial World Championship. The winning state would have bragging rights over who had the best representative team in the world outside of the test team.
Game I of 1983 was refereed leniently by Barry Gomersall who had "controlled" his previous Origin fixture (game II, 1982) in a similar fashion. Penrith's Darryl Brohman was making his Origin debut and with his ball skills and strong kicking game had been considered a strong possibility to force his way into the Australian side due to play New Zealand a few days later. Early in the first half Brohman's jaw was broken by a sickening elbow from Blues' second-rower Les Boyd which sidelined him for the rest of the season. Gomersall awarded a penalty for the high shot, but allowed Boyd to stay on the field.
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