I have no idea what the majority of free-kicks were awarded for in the deciding match of this year’s State of Origin series.

But I do know I loved every minute of it.

Just when it looked like New South Wales had somehow conjured up an even more excruciating method of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, they managed to do the complete opposite.

The Blues are going to win, no wait, the Maroons are, no, as you were, the Blues win, and let's all have a punch-up to celebrate.

Fabulous stuff.

My first experience of Origin also happened to be my first at the famous venue hosting it, called ANZ Stadium in its latest incarnation.

Within the same stands where crowds have seen Cathy Freeman claim Olympic gold, Jonny Wilkinson win a rugby World Cup and John Aloisi send Australia to the soccer version, I got to see Cooper Cronk sin-binned.

A visiting Pommie mate who invited my family to join his for a week in Sydney said he wanted to savour an Aussie sporting experience.

Obviously we went to the AFL summit meeting between Sydney and Hawthorn at the SCG, but discovering the State of Origin “decider” was on the night before seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

Attempting to explain the magnitude of Origin to a non-Australian is not easy.

The concept of an annual two-horse race with nobody else involved that still manages to grab huge public interest led to Visiting Pommie Mate comparing it to the university boat race in London.

Nobody outside Oxford and Cambridge gives a monkey’s about the result but massive crowds line the River Thames from Putney to Mortlake for a rowing race that is broadcast live on the BBC.

Origin is indeed Australia’s boat race. It would be difficult to think of a sporting contest more important to the two states but simultaneously of less interest outside them.

For every rabidly passionate Queenslander or New South Welshman, there must be dozens of disinterested Western or South Australians, but that matters not to those involved.

In the relevant states, this is bigger than the Big Pineapple and Big Banana put together.

This is of as much seismic importance to (most of) Australia’s eastern seaboard as the San Andreas Fault is to America’s western seaboard.

Observing the build-up gave some indication of the series’ importance.

There were the usual rugby league pre-match rituals of a leaked sex tape, accusations of drug possession, money laundering and fraud and a career change for Jarryd Hayne.

For those outside the two competing states, or former residents of them, Queensland had won the opening two matches, meaning this “decider” would merely decide whether NSW would be completely smashed or not. Our crowded train from Central Station to Olympic Park contained three drunken Blues supporters whose offensive mix of sexism and racism gave us all the prompting we needed to barrack for the Maroons.

Doubtless this has been pointed out many times before, but it was difficult not to see the irony of NSW being sponsored by Victoria Bitter.

Almost as an apology, the beer being served inside the stadium attempted to appease both sets of supporters although, for an outsider, choosing between Brisbane-brewed XXXX and Sydney’s Hahn was akin to deciding whether Derryn Hinch or Alan Jones should get the last life jacket on a sinking ship.

Attempting to replicate the recent sporting success of their namesakes from Old North Wales, NSW responded to an early Queensland try by taking a 6-4 lead, at which point the rabid home fan sitting next to VPM implored the officials to “Stop the game now.”

Perhaps detecting that he was sitting with Tasmanians, he then attempted to make us feel at home by yelling at the Queenslanders that they all had two heads.

And just to alienate his female friends he responded to the overdue arrival of some biff after half an hour with the comment: “Finally, I've seen more fight in netball.”

On the field, much like the following night’s AFL match, the NRL showpiece produced a thrilling see-saw finish.

The Blues dominated long periods and eventually held on to win 18-14, thanks in part to Johnathan Thurston’s geometrically-implausible feat of hitting both posts and bar with one kick.

At the time it looked immaterial. Despite being on the wrong end of a much-publicised 12-3 penalty count, the Maroons had snatched the lead in the dying minutes and the Blues looked destined to be singing their name.

But Michael Jennings had other ideas, scoring the most unlikely of match-winning tries which not only assured a consolation home win but enabled captain Paul Gallen to ice the cake by slotting the conversion with his last contribution to a distinguished Origin career.

Then came the predictable post-match rituals.

NSW were dubbed disrespectful for walking off during Cameron Smith’s speech before Smith fulfilled the traditional defeated skipper’s formality by blaming the officials as the bleating about that penalty-count imbalance began.

It mattered little. NSW had won the battle but Queensland had won the war and indulged in that bizarre sporting practice, familiar to many a winning Ashes team, of celebrating series success after match defeat.

Ultimately, 61,267 spectators went home mostly happy, and certainly entertained. It may not have been quite up there with Freeman or Aloisi but it was worth it for the best missed high-five of all time from Blues prop Aaron Woods.