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This isn’t just a moan from a bloke looking down the barrel of getting a big goose egg next to his tips for the weekend, after all statistically it is just as hard to get every tip wrong as it is to get every tip right.
But as I watched an under strength Dragons succumb to the Raiders I was left wondering whether it was right for all these sides to be putting out teams missing their big guns.
Yes, I know, I know, if you don’t want to lose players over the rep season don’t sign rep players. I believe it myself and used it on Friday.
But would everything work better if the Origin series was held on a stand- alone weekend?
I know there are a number of issues to work through regarding the draw and fitting in the club matches, but I think it’s a discussion worth having. After all even Elton John knows that Saturday night is alright for fighting.
Should Origin, one of the highlights of the rugby league calendar, be on a Wednesday?
Should players who go through be asked to back up just days later?
And in these days when everything has a price and everyone talks about the TV deal, has the question been asked as to whether the State of Origin series would be worth more if played on (and therefore broadcast on) a Saturday?
I must admit the pressure of the deadline means I haven’t even made up my own mind before posing this question, but I know the one argument I won’t buy is “it’s always been on a Wednesday”. Surely that something has a tradition of being mid week is the poorest reason to keep it there.
Maybe Origin has finally grown to the point where by it deserves its own weekend/s.
Looking for a quick solution for the club matches would be starting the season a week earlier and running it a week longer. And given how abbreviated the rounds are before an Origin, I’m not sure what we are missing.
Or hell, cut a few games. The clubs don’t play everyone twice anyway so it can potentially trimmed more.
The Origin period is always known for tossing odd results (perhaps something I should have factored in when making my weekly tips!). While this often is seen as a good thing, as some battlers get some unexpected wins and the gun sides are forced to roll out the kids, you could also argue that enough is already done to level the playing field, and a further leg up for the weaker sides is the last thing we need.
In the end maybe all we should hope for is that clubs continue to take this oddness on the chin and don’t complain about rivals for semi finals spots getting a free kick by taking on sides missing large chunks of their best team.
At least the Tigers all seem to be on speaking terms again.
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May 24th 2010 @ 11:45am
Gareth said | May 24th 2010 @ 11:45am | Report comment
As a quick aside, both the Eels and Dragons have pretty poor records against the Sharks and Raiders respectively. It’s like tipping Brisbane against the Dragons – it ought to be done with a lot of caution. But anyway.
The biggest reason for people to dislike the idea is pretty simple – nobody wants a week with only one game of footy. I like the idea of having a weekend with NSW City Country / QLD City Country / ANZAC Test and potentially some other internationals like PNG vs Samoa to round it out. It becomes harder to do something similar for SOO, because you have to do it three times, you can’t really have City/Country games filling the gaps because ideally they should still have some purpose as Origin trial (ignoring the fact that the NSW team seems to have been picked well in advance by a combination of coach, marketing and media).
But forgetting that for the time being – why is it such bad thing for teams to be forced to play without their stars? It’s not like any of the games this weekend were boring, aside from a dour struggle in horrible conditions on Friday night. In fact, in some ways it can be more exciting to see some of the unheralded blokes go around for a game or two – they’re enthusiastic, unpredicatable and hungry for their chance at stardom. Can we agree that the entertainment aspect of the football was not degraded through the loss of a significant number of rep players?
To look at it in terms of competition integrity, I’ll admit it’s far from perfect to have these half bye rounds and some strange results – but it also gives a leg up to the teams who don’t have a roster full of reps, and brings the vanguard back in line with the rest of the comp. It keeps everything more competitive, though it does rely on certainly elements in terms of the scheduled fixtures.
Last thing to consider is that maybe the selectors are part of the problem. If they ignore rep quality players like Josh Dugan and Terry Campese in favour of strong club players like Kurt Gidley or Jamie Lyon, then of course some teams are going to lose.
May 24th 2010 @ 12:01pm
Daniel said | May 24th 2010 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
Everyone can see that Sunday night Origin would not work. Geez!!
However, a Saturday night would surely rate, regardless if it isnt a traditonally big night for ratings…. after all, it is Origin, and trust me, people will watch it. As a matter of fact this would suit people much better with many people opting to put on BBQ’s etc at their houses and entertaining guests, particularly having the next day off work!
Whether it gives the opposition a leg up or not, i cannot answer that… It would being played on a Sunday, so it would need to be mid weekend. I think the potential leg up is offset anyway by fans disappointment in split rounds and players not being available to play for sides.
I think it should definitely be pushed for in the next TV deal discussions.
May 24th 2010 @ 12:42pm
hutch said | May 24th 2010 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
origin would work any night of the week, i dont care what has happened in the past, the game needs to be played on a weekend which is free of nrl club games. there are two reasons for this, and they both benefit the sport of rugby league immensely, which is more important than channel 9 having a sook over ratings, when they dont even show most games at a decent hour outside of nsw and qld.
- the first reason is the most important. having origin on weekends gives other nations the chance to play meaningful rep games, test matches and tournaments and have access to all of their players. series between png, fiji, samoa, tonga, cook islands, pacific cups, nz origin, nz v pacific islands. you can extend this to the northern hemisphere if the super league followed suit and have a euro cup with a top tier of england, wales and france who all have professional teams. the game is bigger than australia, and if its ok for aussie players to play rep football mid season, then why not other countries. this would also give players who are eligible to represent other nations a fairer choice, and not just choose origin and australia.
- the second reason has already been mentioned. it is absolutely ridiculous that teams play without their best players in such important games. if the dragons lose their games without their origin stars and therefore miss the minor premiership by a point or two because of this, they would have every right to feel completely ripped off. it is an absolute joke, and i say this even though my team (wests tigers) benefited on the weekend from beating an understrength newcastle team.
it is time the admin who ‘run’ this game started thinking bigger and started doing what is best for the sport as a whole. lets grow the game, not bow down to tv networks who stuff us around anyway!
May 24th 2010 @ 1:31pm
Brett McKay said | May 24th 2010 @ 1:31pm | Report comment
Hutch, I’d love to see a merge of two of your ideas there, and play a NZ Origin made up of “locals” playing against those from the Islands….
May 25th 2010 @ 9:20pm
hutch said | May 25th 2010 @ 9:20pm | Report comment
as long as those representing the “islans” committed to an island nation. not just nz islanders v nz maori/pakeha!
May 24th 2010 @ 4:58pm
Gilbank said | May 24th 2010 @ 4:58pm | Report comment
Only an idea: Why not play it at the end of the year as a precursor to test selection.
May 24th 2010 @ 10:06pm
hutch said | May 24th 2010 @ 10:06pm | Report comment
there is not enough time post season, and internationals must take precedence! mid season is fine for origin, but the current format is holding back the game!
May 24th 2010 @ 5:35pm
Norm said | May 24th 2010 @ 5:35pm | Report comment
To be honset Steve I have no sympathy for teams losing players to Origin (except when it used to be the Roosters) so I think we leave as is. On a more serious note Steve I have absolutely no trouble getting every tip wrong.
May 24th 2010 @ 8:23pm
LT80 said | May 24th 2010 @ 8:23pm | Report comment
You would definitely need another game on the weekend, and in reality the only other possibility is New Zealand V Combined Pacific Islands. Even then, there would be a big concern about how competitive the PI side would be, and whether the game would generate enough interest. But I reckon it would be worth giving it a try.
I’ve been to a few club games around Origin time in the last few years and the crowds are always pretty bad, and the quality is sometimes low as well, so it’s hard to argue that we would be giving up all that much. You could even say that playing these low quality games devalues the club games to a degree, and could actually be damaging to the NRL.
May 25th 2010 @ 10:08am
Countryleaguie said | May 25th 2010 @ 10:08am | Report comment
im a parra fan from Orange, i was thinknig about travelling into city for the game. does anyone know if tickets are still available and what the weather is doing?