Cobras hang on in State of Origin

OCEAN Grove Cobras Junior Football Club will keep State of Origin bragging rights for at least another year, after a nail-biting eight-point aggregate win over Glebe Greyhounds Football Club.

Cobras president Aaron White said the annual two-day State of Origin, held last weekend, between the Victorian and New South Wales clubs raised over $35,000 for local Geelong SIDS charity River’s Gift.

He said it was the largest total raised since the inaugural State of Origin in 2017.

“It is easily the biggest success that we have ever had,” Mr White said.

“We exceeded our $30,000 funding target by over five grand, which is just a massive effort from sponsors, local businesses and a whole number of families.”

The weekend involved more than 250 junior footballers, boys and girls, aged between seven and 16 years competing in six age specific games ranging from under 10s to under 16s.

Mr White said a major highlight over the two days at Collendina Reserve was the first State of Origin Parents Game, which counted as the event’s seventh matchup.

“We’ll keep Ocean Grove Osteopathy and Sports Health in good business for the rest of the year following that game,” Mr White said.

“The buzz around the ground was like a Grand Final over both days, it still hasn’t sunk in what we achieved this year, it was phenomenal.

“I was in Woolworths the other day and people were still talking about State of Origin.”

State of Origin will be held at Glebe Football Club’s Jubilee Park in 2024.