Editing Melbourne Cricket Ground (section)

==Rugby league==
[[Rugby league]] was first played at the ground on 15 August 1914, with the [[New South Wales rugby league team|New South Wales team]] losing to [[England national rugby league team|England]] 15–21.

The first ever [[State of Origin series|State of Origin]] match at the MCG (and second in Melbourne) was Game II of the [[1994 State of Origin series|1994 series]], and the attendance of 87,161 set a new record rugby league crowd in Australia. The MCG was also the venue for Game II of the [[1995 State of Origin series]] and drew 52,994, the most of any game that series. The second game of the [[1997 State of Origin series]], which, due to the [[Super League war]] only featured [[Australian Rugby League]]-signed players, was played there too, but only attracted 25,105, the lowest in a series that failed to attract over 35,000 to any game.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Melbourne Cricket Ground |url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/venues/melbourne-cricket-ground/results.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326174004/http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/venues/melbourne-cricket-ground/results.html |archive-date=26 March 2014 |access-date=6 July 2013 |website=Rugby League Project |publisher=Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates}}</ref>

The [[Melbourne Storm]] played two marquee games at the MCG in 2000. This was the first time that they had played outside of their normal home ground of [[Olympic Park Stadium (Melbourne)|Olympic Park Stadium]] which held 18,500 people. Their first game was held on 3 March 2000 against the [[St. George Illawarra Dragons]] in a rematch of the infamous [[1999 NRL Grand Final]]. Dragons player [[Anthony Mundine]] said the Storm were 'not worthy premiers' and they responded by running in 12 tries to two, winning 70–10 in front of 23,239 fans. This was their biggest crowd they had played against until 33,427 turned up to the 2007 Preliminary Final at [[Docklands Stadium]] which saw Melbourne defeat the [[Parramatta Eels]] 26–10. The record home and away crowd record has also been overhauled, when a match at Docklands in 2010 against St George attracted 25,480 spectators. Their second game attracted only 15,535 spectators and was up against the [[Cronulla Sharks]] on 24 June 2000. Once again, the Storm won 22–16.

It was announced in June 2014 that the ground would host its first State of Origin match since 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smart |first=Nick |date=2 June 2014 |title=State of Origin: Rugby league showpiece to return to Melbourne's MCG for game two in 2015 |url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/state-of-origin/state-of-origin-rugby-league-showpiece-to-return-to-melbournes-mcg-for-game-two-in-2015/story-fn31yxah-1226939575510 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140602003104/http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/state-of-origin/state-of-origin-rugby-league-showpiece-to-return-to-melbournes-mcg-for-game-two-in-2015/story-fn31yxah-1226939575510 |archive-date=2 Jun 2014 |website=Fox Sports Australia}}</ref> Game II of the [[2015 State of Origin series|2015 series]] was played at the venue, with an all-time record State of Origin crowd of 91,513 attending the match.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tristan Rayner |date=17 June 2015 |title=MCG sets record Origin crowd of 91,513 |url=http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/06/17/mcg-sets-record-origin-crowd-of-91513/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617192209/http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/06/17/mcg-sets-record-origin-crowd-of-91513/ |archive-date=17 June 2015 |access-date=17 June 2015 |publisher=The Roar}}</ref> The attendance is 19th on the all time rugby league attendance list and the 4th highest rugby league attendance in Australia.

The MCG hosted its fifth State of Origin match on 6 June 2018. In front of a crowd of 87,122, the third largest State of Origin crowd in Victoria, New South Wales defeated Queensland 22–12.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State Of Origin 2018 Series Game 1 |url=https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/state-of-origin-2018/game-1/queensland-vs-new-south-wales/summary.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626111348/https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/state-of-origin-2018/game-1/queensland-vs-new-south-wales/summary.html |archive-date=26 June 2022 |access-date=26 June 2022 |website=Rugby League Project}}</ref>

The 2nd game of the [[2024 State of Origin series]] was played at MCG on 26 June 2024 with New South Wales defeating Queensland 38-18 in front of 90,084 spectators.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State of Origin fixtures & draw 2024 |url=https://www.theroar.com.au/rugby-league/nrl/state-of-origin/draw/}}</ref>

{{Wide image|MCG Panorama 6 June 2018.jpg|1000px|align-cap=center|Panoramic photo of the MCG in Rugby League mode from the Great Southern Stand during the 1st game of the [[2018 State of Origin series]]}}