State of Origin, I forgot it was on!

Seems like 80,000 plus who attended S002 and the record numbers for the 2nd stage watching around Oz( nearly 3.25million) ,forgot it was on. Someone must have jogged their memory.Even the French ru side attended.

The thing to consider is that not too long ago State of origin would not even be mentioned let along seen in melbourne. What would the big V bersus SA rate in Sydney. Not much. Saying that i think the afl should bring back state of origin.

Did this Billy guy seriously cheer his own article? Wow! That's pretty sad...

or John Oneill

Record ratings despite all of the controversies..you cant keep a great game down..Just imagine if the NRLs administrators had the likes of Demetriou running the game.... the game would be unstoppable...Up the Rabbitohs & go the Blues!!!

The State of Origin I also looked forward to. But how can you say it is "örigin"when you have blokes born and bred in other states, played their junior league in that state and then turn out for the opposition. Queensland's dominance is deserved but it has now stifled the interest. I always tipped NSW to win but how can you when they have such a dominant side thereby creating a no contest. This is reality! Good luck to them. But I wathc a game as a contest with a totaly unpredicable result. When they really get fair dinkum in league and have blokes play for where they were BORN and BRED and not use fancy loop holes to get blokes that they want then I might get interested again. When this happens then we are playing to true context of the word ORIGIN. Just as an afterthought - it was Queensland that whinged in the 70's that when we did have Qld vs NSW trials for a Kangaroo jumper that NSW were filled with Queenslanders and that the trials were unfair. They screamed to the heavens that it was not right. There was a lot of justification in that argument hence the Stae of Origin. Now that the table has done a complete 180 degrees will they also admit to using some NSW players in their line up? I don't think so.

PIPPINU 4th june asked what Lions am I talking about. Mate I said speaking of RULES go the LIONS. Now you may not be aware AFL is called RULES -- AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL. IF you think it's for pussies go and watch the Lions and Carlton play tonight. Big men can fly. I loved to play RULES at school, but on the weekends it was all LEAGUE. Funny thing is when we went to training after school we sometimes played UNION, because the captain of the team was Roger Gould. WHO!! Gould went on to play fullback for Australia. That guy could kick a football 60mts ,no trouble. ....

Record TV ratings Near sell out crowd in an AFL heartland (What do you reckon an Essendon v collingwood game would draw in sydney or brisbane?) END OF STORY Billy your a typical fickle blues supporter.

"TV analyst Steve Allen, of Fusion Media, was forced to admit his predictions the game would shed viewers after its run of negative headlines, stating this morning that "NRL controversy counts for nothing when it comes to audience support.'' source news.com.au

"Despite analyst predictions the showcase would suffer in the wake of the Christchurch sex scandal and other off-field controversies, the Channel 9 telecast drew a national audience of more than 2.287 million viewers (up 9.32% on the opening game in 2008)". source news.com.au

The Link, You are a lighthouse in a sea of madness and paranoia. God help some people if they ever remove themselves from mum's basement.

The highest rating SOO ever Australia wide. End of story Silly.....oh sorry I mean Billy.

I am not going to get into the which is better ho hum,simply to state the TV ratings for the SOO1 were in fact record ratings .yes Vic got 300,000 plus still for an AFL home state ,the rl would still be happy.Sydney 971,000 Brissie 834,000 SA and WA 73,0000 and 82,000 .Total 2,287,000 and this not including the nSW and Qld regionals where rl is even more dominant than in Sydney and Brisbane. It wasn't that long ago you would have to send out a search party to get any sort of Tv ratings for SOO in Vic. These record ratings achieved despite the recent bad publicity for the game.Showing it is not only resistant ,but the average Joe in the street is fully aware of what happens in society,and sport in the case of rl is just a microcosm. RedB Rugby league has also non tackling version in the kiddies section. Rl growth inr rl participation has only been pushed for 3 years and not had the advantage 25 years plus the swans have in sydney.

I do not mean to sound all things to all men but for those of us who love the sporting codes in Australia i thoroughly enjoyed the first SOO , I look forward to St Kilda v Geelong in i think round 14 ( even better if both remain undefeated) and to Wallabies against the Blacks followed by Socceroos win World Cup selection. I have seen some pretty tough men in all these codes. My father always told me if you can see no skill in another man's game you may also be little closed to appreciating all the skills in your own game. Perference is one thing ignorance another. Elite rugby league , rugby union , Australian football or Australian Rules can offer a an enjoyable spectacle. i actually feel sorry for people who cannot appreciate all these sports at their best . Motherhood statements all but my mother always spoke the truth.

Pippinu No time today, but spot on analysis of my comments.

WCR, Auskick I think is for 5 to 8 year olds and does not have tackling, it concentrates on ball skills with hand and foot, tackling can come later as it is not the main feature of the game unlike in say rugby league. Captain Nemo, Look the perception is probably not a bad thing and maybe the AFL has it right to take out the phyisical stuff until their bodies are ready to cope with tackling and being thrown to the ground. Redb

The Link, You maybe a moderate as a RL fan, let's just leave it at and sincerely say good on you. But you accuse me of paranoia (I'm not just everyone thinks I am :-) ) , however you have totally misintpreted the league of its own motto, that is about Aussie Rule's own league being the AFL, there are no other professional leagues in the world of Aussie Rules, it's unique and a unique game. Redb

RedB - quoting Roy Masters and the Daily Terror is a strawman. There is no general anti-AFL feeling amoungst RL fans, there's no general 'going back into shells and becoming code warriors', you're very much jumping at shadows and frankly its paranoid tripe. The AFL has done well in its non-traditional markets in Sydney and Brisbane, they have been welcomed by the general community, if there's any media driven hyperbole its no general reflection of what RL fans think. Lets just get on with it. More referring to the 'In a league of its own' which directly attempts to demonstrate that AFL is superior to other sports, including Rugby as a generic game. This is the basis of an entire marketing campaign, not a match day magazine, which can hardly be called a campaign.

Captain Nemo the first part of my post was more directed at the general 'toughness' discussion inclusive of Towser etc - so I wasn't having a go at you. The point you make though in your comment is a key one - - and that is the 'opportunity' aspect. That for a lot of people - convenience is a key factor. (and the potential for cheap after school care - - i.e. such as an auskick of similar weekly session run on school grounds after school!). Anyway - key there is for the AFL for example to ensure in the Sydney market that they get a broad enough presence so as to be half way accessible to as many people as possible. THis is a challenge - as I've pointed out before, soccer and rugby CAN and do get played on footy/cricket ovals - - but, Aust footy and cricket are both very much limited if only soccer/rugby pitches are available that aren't at least side by side and don't have fences/lights/other fixtures dividing them. In the battle for the 5 year old - - it's way too early for their sporting life to be mapped out anyway. But, for some parents - that's what they want. I recall hearing of late a few stories about guys who reckon they were better 'players' because they spent a year growing up umpiring. I reckon many AFL players are better players BECAUSE they also played other sports whilst growing up. So, for me, I reckon those fear mongers in the NRL Sydney media are beating up the wrong bush. BUt, you didn't answer my question - - what 2 or 3 sports would you regard as the most ideal lead in (in combination) to take up Rugby League? (i.e. discounted RU or Touch RUgby). My theory is that there isn't really - - other than Rugby Union which is a direct competitor. ANd I reckon that's developed a real 'hunted' mentality amongst the Rugby codes. Whereas, Aust Footy, had a bit of that mentality around 15 odd years ago with basketball, but, has since discovered that it's not a mutually exclusive equation. Soccer fits that category too -- and especially, when basketball, or volleyball - is combined with soccer. They actually prepare kids better than the old days of kids playing footy in winter and cricket in summer. btw - gotta break down that Sydney Private school closed door mentality. It's not very becomming and far less expansive than the sports programs at most of the Melbourne Private schools (which effectively is where Rugby was kept alive in this state outside of expats from military bases forming local teams).

Redb The whole 'softer' attitude toward AFL is derived from the the as you stated lesser contact that exists in at the junioe level. The game does become more physical as player progress. In Rugby and League this isn't the case/ Is full contact from the word go.