If you are prepared to take off your clothes in front of 84,000 fans then you too can try and influence the outcome of a major sporting event.

And they don’t come much bigger than Australian rugby league’s State of Origin series.

Queensland wrapped up a 2-1 series triumph with a 12-10 win in the deciding game against New South Wales at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney – but they were almost denied by a strange decision by the video referee that creates a potentially dangerous precedent.

Having got themselves in front, Queensland prop Matt Scott looked to have scored what appeared to be the match-winning try but that was only the start of the drama as a streaker ran into the middle of play just as he went through to score.

Play was stopped for more than three minutes as the video officials went over the footage, and eventually taking the try off the Maroons due to the intrusion by the spectator.

It made for a very tight finale with the Blues of New South Wales within a whisker of taking the game.

Had that been the case then the intrusion by the streaker, who one can only assume was a home fan, could have changed the course of the biggest game of the 13-a-side season down under.

So by ruling out the touchdown for an incident not actually involving a passage of play in the game, the authorities have pretty much given the more partisan fans a means to influence the outcome of the contest.

However, it is unlikely to spread over here – surely no-one would want to strip off and race across the pitch on a nippy night in the North of England.