Queensland Rugby League yesterday announced that they will be sparking up a 'Be MarooNZ' campaign which will see them head over to Aotearoa and basically sell their brand to kiwis. Brent Tate who has the obvious connection to Aotearoa is the face of the campaign and they'll be heading our way ahead of the NRL Nines to apparently spread the gospel.

It's a bloody interesting move as this is the first substantial step in State of Origin's growth, but definitely do not look at this as a wise move by all the State of Origin stakeholders. Queensland have been ahead of the curve for a while now with their dominance coming on the back of initiatives such as their Emerging Origin Squad, which New South Wales had to imitate. The QRL are once again pushing the boundaries and have ventured outside the box to get some sort of edge over their rivals.

It puts kiwis in a weird position as we're basically pawns in the battle between two Australian states but there are plenty of positives to the move, it could also be viewed as the QRU encroaching on our turf. The idea behind the 'Be MarooNZ' campaign is that the Maroons and Aotearoa have always had a strong connection and that Queensland has always had plenty of support from our lovely people. I'm not sure if they have been over here during Origin recently, but the sky blues have definitely evened things up in terms of the level of support which could be why Queensland see this as a key move. 

They seemed to overlook that much of the kiwi connection has to do with a fair amount of kiwi players turning out for the Maroons, but we'll keep that to ourselves. Should Queensland look to grab a few more kiwi players, then we'll definitely have an issue but as long as they keep to themselves it should be all good.

It continues the wave of momentum of rugby league in Aotearoa, which obviously gets me excited but once again we already know how popular rugby league is here. Good things take time and the NRL and now the QRL are starting to take notice. For me, this is purely a financial move for the QRU as they are targeting memberships, merchandise sales and ticket sales. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort on their behalf to get kiwis on board as they have already got a few points in the bank by simply dreaming up this 'Be MarooNZ' idea. They just have to send a few blokes, Brent Tate, Petero Civoniceva and Mal Meninga who don't really have a whole lot else to do right now across the ditch. It's not like they're splashing a milly on this, throwing resources left, right and centre, nah this is an easy way to drum up some business.

The key thought that sparks in to my head when I looked in to this was that a State of Origin game in Aotearoa may be a near certainty. There's only so much money the QRL can make off of memberships etc, but the real value here is that Eden Park could be 60% full of Maroons fans, at least. We've heard whispers that State of Origin could be heading our way, it's probably more valuable to have it in Auckland than Melbourne and I wouldn't be surprised if the QRL are banking on this happening, as such they are betting the house on it.

The QRL had to get in first though, it's what they have always done and it puts the ball in the court of NSW. How will they respond? Will they try something similar and send James Tamou over? Or will they just laugh at the QRL and let Queensland dominate the kiwi market? You already know that we'll have our finger on the NSWRL's pulse to see what they serve up.

Aotearoa is the next frontier for the NRL, they are really amping up their presence in our land and the QRL are riding on that wave. Do I have a problem with Aotearoa being used and abused by Australian rugby league folk? Nah, in the end the benefits for rugby league in Aotearoa will far outweigh any negatives but if I was a rugby union decision maker in Aotearoa, I'd definitely be worried.