XXXX Gold, Queensland‘s ubiquitous brew of choice, will be pulled from taps at this year’s State Of Origin match in Brisbane in favour of Victoria Bitter.
Yes, you read that correctly. Someone, somewhere, imagined it’d be a good idea to separate the maroon masses at Suncorp Stadium from their frothy birthright.
The move comes after the NRL signed a new sponsorship deal with Carlton United Breweries to enshrine VB as the “Beer of Origin”, a newfangled sponsorship position designed to promote the Victorian drop.
While XXXX will not be served inside the stadium, The Courier-Mail reports marquees may be available around the site to attract fans keen to sink some bevs.
That’d be handy for Lion, the brewery group which in January signed a seperate four-year deal with Queensland Rugby League to slap the XXXX label on the Maroons’ kit.
Tooheys, another Lion drop, also signed a $10 million deal with New South Wales Rugby League to replace VB on the Blues’ shorts for the duration of the 2018 series.
NSWRL chief David Trodden said the situation was “certainly not ideal” and “there’s not much you can do about it unfortunately.”
The news comes after a period of tension at Lion’s Milton brewery, where workers have gone on strike to protest their current pay agreement and the use of contract labour.
That situation also spurred independent pollie Bob Katter to ceremonially pour his XXXX down the drain.
Interesting times ahead for the brew, and for the July 11 match.
