“In the 12-hour window from 6pm to 6am on State of Origin game night, women and children in NSW are almost 40% more likely to become victims of domestic violence," the centre's deputy director Dr Michael Livingston said.

“When we compare those findings with Victoria, a state with less interest in rugby league, the data reveals no statistically significant increase in violent assaults on the dates in question."

The analysis was based on NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) assault figures in NSW on Wednesday nights (between 6pm Wednesday to 6am Thursday) for the weeks around State of Origin games spanning the six years to 2017.

The dataset included every Wednesday from two weeks prior to the first game of each series to two weeks after the final game (11 weeks per year).