State of Origin II is almost upon us.
Here's everything you need to know about the second game of rugby league's showpiece series.
When is State of Origin II?
Origin II is scheduled to kick off at 5:50pm AWST tonight.
If you're wondering why we're giving you the WA time rather than AEST, that's because game two is being played at Perth Stadium.
So kick-off is at 7:50pm AEST for all the east-coasters.
State of Origin is being played in Perth?
Yep, and not for the first time.
Almost 60,000 people turned up to Perth Stadium to watch the Blues batter Queensland 38-6 in the second game of the 2019 Origin series.
NSW actually entered that game in a similar fashion as they do this year, after losing a close game to an underdog Maroons side.
That year the Perth game marked a turning point, with the Blues going on to win a decider in Sydney. Can they pull off another western revival in 2022?
Why is it being played on Sunday?
While traditionally a Wednesday night affair, the Sunday game has been a fixture since 2018.
The second game of the 2018, 2019, 2021 and, of course, 2022 series have all been Sunday night affairs as the league experiments with timings and representative weekends.
The end-of-season, coronavirus-affected 2020 series is the only outlier from the past five series.
What happened in Origin I?
Queensland won a thrilling series opener 16-10 at Sydney's Olympic stadium.
It was a bit of a shock, but the close result was perhaps not the most surprising factor, rather that was Billy Slater exuding so much composure in his first game as a head coach.
Who is playing in Origin II?
Both the Blues and Maroons made plenty of changes after the first game, some through injury and some for tactical reasons.
As expected, the victors' only changed things that they had to, forced to find injury replacements for winger Xavier Coates and middle forward Reuben Cotter, with North Queensland's Murray Taulagi set to make his Origin debut on the wing, and South Sydney's Jai Arrow named on the bench for his 10th Origin.
NSW made some major changes after their first-up loss, losing Jack Wighton to illness, and dropping Kotoni Staggs, Ryan Matterson, Tariq Sims and Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
Stephen Crichton will start in the centres after playing Origin I off the bench, joined in the centres by debutant and former Penrith teammate Matt Burton. Rampaging Cronulla centre Sifa Talakai is also set for his first Origin off the bench, while Panthers hooker Api Koroisau has been named in the number nine, shifting Damien Cook to the reserves.
Origin veterans Jake Trbojevic and Angus Crichton have also been recalled to bolster the forward pack.
How can I follow Origin II live?
You can watch State of Origin II live on Channel Nine if you're in Australia. If you're tuning in from overseas, check out the NRL's list of international TV broadcasters.
We will also have a live blog on the ABC Sport and ABC News pages, and live radio coverage on ABC Sport Radio.
