The NRL have confirmed Game 2 of the 2024 State of Origin series will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on June 26.
Under the NRL's agreement with other states, Origin has been taking one game per year on the road away from Sydney or Brisbane for a number of years, and next year, it's Melbourne's turn.
The MCG game will be the middle game in the series, with the anticipation being that Sydney will likely host the opening game of the series, and Brisbane the third.
That comes after Suncorp Stadium was the only one of the two venues to host a live game last year, with Sydney hosting the dead rubber in a series the Queenslanders won 2-1.
The opening game of the 2023 men's series had been hosted at the Adelaide Oval.
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Prior to that, Origin games have also been held in Perth.
Melbourne was last set to host Origin in 2021, but it was taken from the city after a COVID outbreak which forced the entirety of that year's series to be played in Queensland.
There has been widespread speculation that the Origin period will shrink next year from its traditional six-week bracket down to potentially as small as three weeks, but that is yet to be confirmed by the NRL.
Clubs have long pushed for the impacts of Origin to be minimised on the NRL competition, and reducing the number of weeks impacted is seen as one way to do it.
What has been confirmed is that Game 2 being on June 26 sets it on the same week as last year, meaning potentially there will be no changes for 2024.
As it stands, the NRL will open their season in Las Vegas on the weekend of March 2 and 3, with the rest of the clubs to commence the following weekend.
Origin 1, likely in Sydney, could be on June 5, while Origin 3 could be on July 17 in Brisbane.
The finals are due to commence on the weekend of September 14, while the grand final will be played on October 6 prior to the October long weekend in New South Wales.
