Origin blue brews as NRL executives start a bar fight

QUEENSLAND fans will be denied a traditional XXXX at this year’s Origin series, with NRL executives locking in a Victorian brew as this year’s “Beer of Origin”.

A senior QRL executive rushed to Sydney yesterday for crisis talks in a bid to sidestep a stoush with both the Maroons and Blues sponsored by Lion Nathan for the coming series kicking off at the MCG on June 6.

Disappointed XXXX executives are believed to be scrambling with the QRL to make sure XXXX is readily available for Maroons supporters before and after the final game at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on July 11. One idea is that XXXX-sponsored marquees could be set up outside the ground to host supporters entering and exiting the ground.

The NRL’s new deal pits the league against both the QRL and NSWRL who signed lucrative contracts this year with Lion Nathan, maker of XXXX and Tooheys, to sponsor their respective Origin teams.

But the NRL, which hires the grounds for Origin matches, has the final say on which beers are sold inside the stadiums and has ruled in favour of CUB, which paid for the right for VB to be called the “Beer of Origin”.

An NRL spokesman said the league had not decided the final line-up of beers for the game as “that is generally a matter between the stadium and their supplier.”

“CUB have been long-term investors in the game and have been the beer of origin for the last decade.

“The parties will now negotiate the final arrangements for this year’s origin matches.”

XXXX signed a new fouryear deal at the start of this year with the Maroons, taking the relationship into a fourth decade.

Tooheys reportedly paid $10 million to replace VB as the logo sponsor on the Blue’s shorts for the three matches this year.