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MASCORD: 'I can't get excited about State of Origin'

14th May, 2015
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Bring back the good old fashioned Origin scraps and lower the admission prices. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Expert
14th May, 2015
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3294 Reads

Ah State of Origin. The teams are picked at the start of next week, there’s no putting off writing about it any longer.

Who will be the NSW halves? Is Justin Hodges playing his final series? Is Josh Dugan going to be the Blues fullback? Who cares?

Oops! Did I actually type that? Sorry. I am sure that 95 per cent of our rugby league readers here at The Roar are devouring every word written about these pertinent league matters and don’t come here to bear witness to ambivalence.

More State of Origin:
» State of Origin News
» State of Origin team news
» Pick your own NSW Blues team for Origin 1
» Pick your own Queensland Maroons team for Origin 1

I think the halves will be Trent Hodkinson and Mitchell Pearce, okay? And I am flabbergasted anyone would want Justin Hodges to retire – his footwork is pure poetry, a man who can beat an opponent with little more than a nudge and a wink.

And Dugan, yes. He might go down more than – hey, I’m not touching any of the metaphors that just popped into my head – but he’s one of those blokes who seems to be playing a different game than everyone around him. Those fellas belong in Origin.

But my interest in these matters is purely professional. I’m interested because you’re interested. In my spare time, I really don’t care who wins State of Origin and have only a passing interest in who plays.

I ‘get’ Origin, before you dismiss me as a cockroach naysayer. I know why it appeals to the great majority of rugby league fans. It’s just that I can’t get excited about a game between two Australian states.

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In the past, we’ve addressed how the NRL is outgrowing Origin, by virtue of the many players coming into the competition who are ineligible for it, and because the attempts to widen the fan-base beyond NSW and Queensland.

Now, I can see that there is a danger here – if the people love Origin, and the NRL outgrows Origin, then League Central could leave its core audience behind, it could outgrow its own fans. We can’t have that.

But what if the next generation of rugby league fans feel the same about State of Origin as I do?

Let’s think about it: they will stream their favourite radio and TV on the internet, they’ll have enormous access to European and American sports, they’ll not read newspapers or even watch the local TV bulletin.

Will their sense of identity be tied to where they live in the way 20th Century people were? Or will their sense of identity in a connected world be tied more to their interests, their politics, their tastes and their heroes?

Is it possible that a game between two Australian states, fighting over some long-forgotten chip on the shoulder, will cease to mean anything to them?

Actually no.

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Rugby league will have to stuff up very badly for State of Origin not to get bigger and bigger. It has a culturally iconic status that guarantees its continual viability – it’s an event and people are drawn more than ever to events.

But as is the case with many parts of popular culture, that which attracts the casual fan alienates the geek. You’re not really a Van Halen fan if your favourite song is “Jump” and you’re not a real rugby league anorak if you like Origin the best.

These are the people why know every member of the first South Queensland Crushers team and can tell you exactly how Joseph Paulo qualifies for four countries. Origin, to them, (um, to us) is as plain as a Sao biscuit. It’s the K-Mart of rugby league.

I agree with everything in this piece by colleague Steve Russo except the bit about playing it at the end of the year. Origin pays our bills, I accept that. I’m all for our bills being paid.

Which is where we come to last week’s column. Evidently, the scare mongers have even got to Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, who has cautioned against allowing Origin players to represent tier two countries.

Except, he didn’t put it like that. He said it was bringing in Islanders – a sure sign he has been misled. Josh McGuire will play for Queensland a month after representing Samoa.

Is that what you people are scared of? Queensland being allowed to pick Queenslanders?

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