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To grow international rugby league, we must kill State of Origin

28th November, 2017
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Tonga players celebrate at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup (NRLPhotos/Fional Goodall)
Roar Guru
28th November, 2017
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2217 Reads

Australia and England will contest the Rugby League World Cup final this weekend, and while a little predictable, few could have envisioned the success of the likes of Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Ireland.

Each of those sides punched well above their weight at this year’s tournament and represent the future of rugby league.

So where to now?

It’s important we nurture these nations, giving them regular fixtures between now and the 2020 World Cup, thus allowing them to grow as rugby league nations. In turn it will make the next event even more competitive.

There have been a number of ideas thrown about, such as a Pacific Nations tournament which is great, but Matt Johns’ suggestion that these nations then combine in some rep side to play a tier one nation smacks of desperation.

The nations have proven their ability to stand up on their own feet and compete as individual countries.

Anyway, I think we need to have these second tier nations playing a lot more that what they have been, and if Samoa can play at least a couple of Tests each year between now and 2020, perhaps we won’t see a repeat of the farce they produced at this tournament.

Australia, England and New Zealand players get plenty of game time playing in the NRL and Super League, so it’s less important that those players play lots of internationals. I’m talking more about the part timers of Lebanon, Ireland and the like, as well as Italy who boast a sprinkling of NRL talent.

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How to fit in more international games in an already crowded schedule?

It may seem like a crazy idea, but if State of Origin was consigned to the scrapheap or maybe reduced to one game a year we could play more internationals.

Brett Hodgson is tackled by Gorden Tallis

(Photo: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

State of Origin was great when teams were primarily based on either NSW or Queensland and the two sides were evenly matched.

Watching Queensland dominate year after year for the last decade has certainly waned interest and there is nowhere for State of Origin to grow.

Games at ANZ Stadium get around 80,000, games at Suncorp get around 50,000 and TV ratings are great, so in essence, State of Origin has peaked.

Conversely, the World Cup has been criticised for low crowds, a lack of marketing, and bizarre scheduling that has seen the tournament drag out for far too long.

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The international games needs to be prioritised so we get massive crowds when Australia play Lebanon, not the 21,000 we had at Allianz Stadium recently.

Think of it this way, which is better for the growth of rugby league on a global scale, a USA team that can challenge tier one teams, and be made up of a strong core of locally-based players, or Queensland beating NSW again?

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