Victorians claim Victoria is the home of Australian sport but if the NRL, the ARL or the independent commission gives them another State of Origin it will be the worst call in Australian sport since Greg Inglis was ruled to be a Queenslander.
They may have the AFL, they may have the Boxing Day Test, they may have the MCG, they may have Philip Island, they may have the Formula One (although they can’t seem to make a quid out of it when every other country can) and they may have the Melbourne Cup. However, this week’s amateur attempt to be interested in rugby league was simply embarrassing.
First of all you had the Victorian Sports Minister, Hugh Delahunty, make the following blunders during the press conference on Monday while trying to welcome the State of Origin to Melbourne .
• He referred to rugby league as “rugby” like all Victorians do – haven’t they worked out yet “rugby” is actually rugby union;
• He called NSW skipper Paul Gallen – “Paul Callen”;
• He referred to the match as the “State of the Origin” instead of State of Origin;
• He said the match was between “Queensland and New Zealand” and not New South Wales – Is he joking?
So when the Minister for Sport stands up and makes those mistakes while trying to reinforce to all Australians that Victoria is the home of sport is simply outrageous. What is wrong with his speech writers and advisers? Bloody hopeless. It isn’t that hard to check facts. A simple Google search or visit to NRL.com would have sorted this out for them.
However, this saga gets worse.
You’d think game one of the 2012 State of Origin Series would rate a mention on the back page of the leading newspaper in Victoria. However there was nothing.
On first inspection, it appears The Age fails to mention the game at all. Whoops my mistake….On closer inspection there is a tiny mention in the very top right hand corner.
Hang on to your hat while I quote to you what it says….
“The game breaker – Why David Carney may be the man to end Queensland’s state-of-origin dominance.”
Who the hell is David Carney? Surely they mean Todd Carney – at least they got the picture right.
The performance of Victorians this week clearly demonstrates why State of the Origin, I mean State of Origin, should never return to Melbourne. They are arrogant and don’t care one bit about the sport in question. They only care about hosting them to make money from the tourism and the event itself.
At least the Queensland Government would not be stupid enough to relinquish their shot at hosting the match.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Dominic Have to counter your points:- 1) There is no guarantee the Tv ratings would have been as good or better,we can only speculate.The 300,000 plus in Melbourne may not have bothered to watch, if the game was in Sydney(the feel good at home factor).The media cover there whatever the size,would have been even less with a game in another state. The code would not receive the funding from the state govt,much of which is utilised in employing 6 D/Os ,and reaching 50,000 school students last yea.rAnd since they have done this have also increased the number of club players from 700 in 2008 to 2,100 in 2012 .That is according to greg Brentnall the melbourne development chief. 2) We have this year 1 game, repeat 1 game in Sydney and to date only 70,000 tickets have been sold.Leaving 10,000 plus to go.For a game of this stature is hardly encouraging ,if NSW was to host two. The money received for SOO1 exceeds what they would have received if the game were held in Sydney.This for a code,crying out for funding. Your last para sums it up ,exactly what the code is up against.Wanting to expand the code,but only in places of genuine interest.We may as well just have the Sydney and Brisbane comps back.The AFL and I am no real fan,at least look outside the square,they expand to virgin areas,and are prepared for the long haul. I also wouldn't be too concerned about an ignorant Vic pollie,our own state leader referred to Queensland playing Newcsatle.
Razzle Time
Guest
Shut it Vlad.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Just to add to that, people forget that Melbourne has hosted the modern pentathlon world championships, not once, but twice.
Dominic Feenan
Roar Rookie
Not sure how holding the match in Melbourne boosted TV ratings?? This was one of the most anticipated Origin matches in years. It could have been played anywhere on the east coast and the ratings would have been massive.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Well said Sam, some common sense at last.
Dominic Feenan
Roar Rookie
It was meant as a light hearted poke at Victorians. Clearly their blow ups indicate how fragile they are.
Dominic Feenan
Roar Rookie
I hear the Melbourne International chess competition is a real howler too!!
Dominic Feenan
Roar Rookie
Not sure what the Aussie Open and golf have to do with The Age not fact checking and your sports minister not bothering to check some basic facts before opening his gob.
Dominic Feenan
Roar Rookie
This article has nothing to do with the success of the Melbourne Storm. Their success has never been in question. They are terrific for the game. This article was about Victorians blindly commenting on something they know nothing about becuase they are the experts apparently.
The High Shot
Roar Pro
How dare you generalize about NSW people like that.
Dominic Feenan
Roar Rookie
All very good points people. However, here are some counter points: 1. To say because the TV rating were good the game in Melbourne was a success is dumb. The TV ratings would have been the same if it was played in Sydney or Brisbane. Time differences in other states would affect the ratings. 2. To get 56k at Etihad was a massive effort by the public who viewed it. However, as a NSW home game, I'm sure they would have got at least 56k to ANZ Stadium to watch Origin 1. If Melbourne wants to remain serious about State of Origin, the MPs and media need to brush up on their knowledge of the game. You can't seriously believe the mistakes they made were genuine just to annoy NSW/Qlders....It was a clear lack of interest and therefore a clear lack of checking the facts to make sure they were right. I'm all for expanding the game and showing it off but only put it in places where it is of genuine interest.
Australian Rules
Guest
Oikee and JVGO...together at last! What a perfect pairing!
amazonfan
Roar Guru
"The only sporting event that NSW ought to pinch is the Grand Prix." You're welcome to it.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
"If the AFL markets the game as AFL then people have an excuse to call it AFL." Not unless you are being deliberately and troll-like ignorant, which you obviously are. You are choosing to remain ignorant. I'm done. Call it whatever what you want, just don't complain when people don't pay your sport the respect you refuse to give mine! (BTW, like so many trolls, not only did you not bother reading anything I wrote, but you trot out the same arguments, even though they have been addressed countless times.) "I refuse to refer to the southern game as “Australian football”. " Nobody's forcing you to. Australian Football is its proper name, but if you don't want to use that name, then just call it something like Aussie Rules. Honestly, I couldn't care less what you call it, just stop being so hypocritical.
Cameron
Guest
"How come Melbourne hasn’t produced an NRL standard player of its own?" I think that is a question that the NRL and more particularly the ARLC has to answer.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
Rugby League Ashes? Four Nations? Super League? Queensland Cup? NSW Cup? There's only one rugby league competition in the world that calls itself "National Rugby League". Pretty much every Aussie rules competition outside of Victoria and South Australia has "AFL" in its name. If the AFL markets the game as AFL then people have an excuse to call it AFL. The ARLC don't go down to Melbourne and market non-NRL rugby league competitions as NRL. I refuse to refer to the southern game as "Australian football". It's a minority sport in Queensland and NSW. If there weren't any Victorians, South Australians, Tasmanians or Western Australians in Queensland and NSW then all of the local amateur competitions would have folded many years ago.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Whatever.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
I don't refer to Aussie rules as "AFL". I refer to it as Victorian rules footbal because it's just a modified version of Sheffield rules and is only taken seriously in less than 50% of the nation.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
"I know that the AFL is a competition. But the AFL markets the sport in Queensland and NSW as “AFL” and “AFL footy”. " Yes, because the AFL wants to raise its profile and size! Have you never watched the Gruen Transfer? The AFL may run the sport, but they also run a competition, and in situations like this, the latter wins out. "People who don’t give a crap about Aussie rules — something like 99% of Queenslanders and New South Welshmen — are going to refer to it by its market name." Then those people shouldn't complain about Victorians being ignorant about NRL/Rugby League. Why should Victorians give a crap about respecting your game when you can't respect ours? Don't expect us to respect you if you're not going to make any effort to respect us. "Referring to Victorian rules football as AFL — the sport is just a modified version of Sheffield rules, yet its fans claim it’s unAustralian to support the English codes — does hold some merit." It doesn't hold any merit at all. Calling Australian Football (which is its correct term BTW) AFL is as absurd as calling Association Football EPL. It holds no merit whatsoever. As for the Un-Australian thing, I detest the term with all my heart, and so I would never use that term (and neither would anybody that I know). " The game doesn’t have anything but ONE professional competition that’s called the AFL. All of the amateur competitions in NSW and QLD have “AFL” in them." Again, marketing. BTW, it has more than one professional competition (or semi-professional) competition not called the AFL. "Name one Victorian-based rugby league competition/governing body that has “National Rugby League” in it." I don't need to. The issue is that you accuse Victorians of choosing to be ignorant (which BTW is a massive generalization) when you are choosing to be ignorant yourself! I will, however, say this. Considering that your dominant competition is the National Rugby League, it's perfectly logical to presume that the competition is a Rugby league, rather than a Rugby League competition.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Yes, it markets itself that way, however marketing doesn't always reflect the truth. You do know how marketing works? "Don’t blame Queenslanders and New South Welshmen for repeating what they’ve been taught by Victorians." Victorians didn't teach them anything, and I will blame them for being deliberately and troll-like ignorant. You want to call Australian football AFL? FIne, but don't complain about Victorians disrespecting your game. What was it you said about how 'Victorians choose to be ignorant towards rugby league'? What a hypocrite.