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NRL's passionate State of Origin narrative envy of AFL

19th May, 2011
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Roar Guru
19th May, 2011
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It’s around this time every year, as rugby league prepares for its wonderful annual State of Origin series, that the idea of a similar competition for Aussie Rules footy gets discussed. Yet it seems year after year, despite the inevitable debate, nothing ever changes.

And I fancy I’m not alone in suggesting that’s a shame. Seeing the best play the best has a genuine appeal.

The crowd of almost 70,000 which attended the last semblance of a State of Origin game, when Victoria played the Dream Team at the AFL’s Hall of Fame Tribute game in 2008, suggests there’s some interest in the concept too.

Of course, that was a one-off game and a special occasion, so it’s hard to read too much into the figure especially when you remember dwindling crowd numbers were one of the reasons for State of Origin’s demise during the 90s.

One of the other reasons for State of Origin slipping off the radar for the AFL was the regularity of players opting to pull out of the series, putting their club’s interests first. Every year, there were droves of star players pulling out due to niggles, complaints or whatever excuse they could find.

You can understand players doing that, particularly given the modern emphasis placed on having a bye. An extra week’s rest is priceless.

From afar it appeared the pride in wearing the state jumper had worn thin to the players. The novelty had worn off. Of course, they were being asked to do it year after year which is one of the major issues with the old format.

So with that in mind it was refreshing to hear comments from Carlton and Collingwood captains Chris Judd and Nick Maxwell before last season that they wanted the State of Origin brought back.

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To put it into context, the Victorian pair said they’d like to see the State of Origin replace the NAB Cup during the pre-season. They both argued players would want to play in order to gain match fitness prior to the AFL season.

It wasn’t a bad suggestion but it hardly prompted the AFL into action. In fact AFL House have been quiet on State of Origin footy for some time.

Years in fact.

It makes you wonder whether AFL chief executive officer Andrew Demetriou, who has held his post since the early noughties (not long after State of Origin disappeared), has any interest in reviving the concept.

It’s curious that during his tenure as AFL CEO the International Rules series against Ireland has been a regular fixture yet State of Origin has fallen by the wayside.

Demetriou has previously cited convincing players to compete in the State of Origin as the greatest barrier to its success. Yet the International Rules series, played after the AFL season, has managed to attract some of the best talent along with crowds which State of Origin hadn’t seen since the 80s.

And the 80s were all about South Australia and West Australia trying to beat Victoria. The concept had a narrative which captured the imagination of the public.

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That was until the VFL went national and the AFL fulfilled that state-versus-state rivalry on a regular basis with club footy rendering State of Origin footy redundant.

It’s in this context that I look at rugby league’s Queensland versus New South Wales rivalry with envy.

The crowds which attend the International Rules games may offer hope to a successful Aussie Rules State of Origin series, perhaps played after the AFL season as a triennial or quadrennial event, but the Australia-Ireland series lacks the genuine passion which make you look forward to it as an event.

It’s more a novelty than anything else.

It’s an oft made point that rugby league’s State of Origin has something special going for it and the build-up this week to the game, which is still over a week away, shows the passion it stirs in the two states.

There’s plenty at stake for Queensland and New South Wales league fans.

Rugby league’s example just goes to show if the AFL is to revive State of Origin it needs to find a narrative to make the concept mean something to people.

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Otherwise, however fancy the format, it won’t capture the imagination of the public and the players and eventually it’ll die away again.

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