RIVALRY JUST A BIT OR ARMLESS FUN
FOR some, State of Origin is a rivalry that stretches back the length of a friendship, but for Melissa Galletly and Brittany Etienne it took them more than five years to discover.
The Broadbeach pair, who met on their first day of university, only discovered their differences when they went to buy scarves.
Now nurses and living together, they don’t plan to let anything – not even last night’s 22-12 win by NSW in Origin I – get in the way of their friendship, according to Ms Galletly, who is an ardent Maroons supporter.
“She’s actually never really watched the State of Origin before, and I warned her before we left,” she said. “I said, ‘I do get a little bit boisterous, so just be careful’.”
Ms Etienne said though she might not have been the biggest Origin fan, she wasn’t afraid of a little healthy competition.
“Look, I just wanted a bit of rivalry because I’m originally from there, I was born there,” she said.
With Game One having gone in the Blues’ favour, this morning it’s up to the winner to decide just what the loser’s punishment is. And that might be finding a new nickname, which will be a bit of a relief for Ms Etienne.
“She just keeps calling me a cockroach,” she said.
“That’s been my nickname all week, cockroach.”