I should probably write an article about Origin, I keep telling myself. But really, what is there to say now that New South Wales has lost their seventh straight series?
Growing up, I immersed myself in the whole Origin hoopla like some kind of marketer’s dream. I’d buy the Origin edition of Rugby League Week and fork out for a Daily Telegraph, the latter a rare treat for a child raised on Sydney’s North Shore.
The big, bold headlines and easy-to-read articles were like soft porn for a prepubescent 10-year-old rugby league aficionado.
Even as a 10-year-old, I knew the Tele to be a source of great rugby league information for the Men in Fluoro Vests. On my way to school, I marvelled at the blue-collar workers in my suburb, envious of their seemingly carefree existence.
I’d eavesdrop on their juicy conversations, which ranged from earnest discussions regarding Brad Fittler’s (suspect) tackling technique to “the jugs” on *insert prominent female celebrity circa 1995-6*.
Just witnessing these guys, with their love for meat pies, V energy drinks and tabloid journalism, would send me to a brighter, simpler place… before I’d be forced to quickly snap out of it and board the train to my solemn, stuffy private school, where tabloid newspapers were to be neither seen nor heard of and rugby league was considered the dominion of the lower class.
Fast-forward 16 years and I’m now working in Sydney’s CBD. My morning paper is the Australian Financial Review. I haven’t specifically sat down to watch the Channel Nine Origin pre-game show in at least five years.
All this has got me thinking that I’ve probably become too cynical to enjoy Origin anymore.
Origin is a cyclical event: part of its charm is the fact that nothing really changes on a year-to-year basis. As we know, the NRL trades endlessly on its past glory.
You know that for three Wednesday nights a year, Kenny Sutcliffe will take you under his wing and guide you through the History of Origin for half-an-hour before passing the baton to narrator Peter Sterling, tasked with reading out the team line-ups and providing anecdotes on delightfully named grassroots clubs like Greg Bird’s Maitland Pumpkin Pickers.
This is all part of Channel Nine’s tried-and-tested Origin blueprint: it’s designed to fire you up for the big game ahead.
Then it’s time for the big show. Ray ‘Rabbits’ Warren and Phil Gould’s shared passion and vocal magnificence provide the Scorsese-like soundtrack to the visual bloodbath before you, catapulting you helplessly into a catatonic Origin stupor.
At least, this is what’s supposed to happen.
Sadly, watching Origin these days is like going to see Men in Black III. You know that you’re going to get exactly what you got the last time you saw it, but the whole thing is in HD [or 3D] now and there’s a couple of new actors who might make things interesting.
Personally, I wish that I had followed a different path to adulthood and taken up one of those aforementioned blue-collar jobs. It’d probably pay better, for starters.
But more importantly, I’d be among men who, every morning, read the Telegraph, eat meat pies and drink energy drinks – despite the obvious health warnings (for all three vices) – and have a shared, unbreakable love for Origin football.
This Utopian world, in which we all simultaneously exist in a simple state of arrested rugby league development, seems awfully bliss.
Together, we’d listen to INXS, Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel on a boombox blaring 104.9′s Triple M. We’d laugh heartily at Matty Johns’ antics on The Grill Team, because prank telephone calls apparently still stand the test of time. And every hour, we’d get our two-minute hit of current affairs from some guy named ‘The Spoonman’ before normal rugby league analysis resumed.
And when Origin rolls around, we’ll bring up the incredulous fact that Greg Inglis was actually born in Kempsey – a fact raised each year ever since Inglis’ selection, to no avail – and ponder whether NSW has “finally got the halves pairing they need to beat Queensland.”
This yearly tradition will continue until each of us bow out gracefully following a successful workers’ compensation claim.
It’s not that I consider Origin – or the people whose hearts still bleed for the state-against-state clashes – to be beneath me now. I’d really love to force a tear over NSW’s seventh consecutive series loss.
But I’m just saying that as a discerning adult male in a constantly evolving macro-economic climate, it’s getting harder and harder to care.
Dave Edwards is Chief Editor of fledgling satirical sports website The Public Apology
Dominator
Guest
Interesting article. For the life of me I can't understand why people get so worked up about the SOO concept. Who cares if QLD beats NSW or vice versa? This series was developed by marketing men, and is not based on on any historical animosity, either political or otherwise, between the two states. The only valid reason to get worked up would be for QLDers who believe RL is NSW centric. Personally I couldn't care less. I just don't feel the hate.
Dave Edwards
Roar Pro
Really looking forward to when the HUMOUR/SATIRE tab comes up on this website...
Kim Hart
Guest
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/tv/state-of-origin-decider-top-ratings/story-e6frexlr-1226417681324 4.85 is close enough
george
Guest
dave,you need to get a life you are reading too much into it .Any sporting event is the same every year with dirrenent names get into the moment and enjoy life.soo is such a great concept
john
Guest
John you had time to read this you tool
matt h
Guest
Tried so hard to not sound patronising ... but just failed I'm afraid.
mushi
Roar Guru
I do like the whole “I read the AFR and went to private school hence I’m above this origin hullabaloo” angle.
clipper
Guest
Then you'd be in the eastern suburbs - so things wouldn't be different. A few astute observations there Dave - Telegraph, meat pie and energy drink whilst listening to Cold Chisel on the Matty Johns show - the blue collar workers nirvana!
mushi
Roar Guru
A novel twist, normally people use a code war "article" to get their hits up
Seriously, Who says Oi?
Guest
Just out of curiosity, is there any source that you can post here to support the 5 million viewer claim? I'm not trying to antagonize you, but I just need to see solid proof.
Von Neumann
Roar Guru
hmmm 5 million watched it. fading relevance? the evidence shows that each year its becoming more relevant and wider received.
Brendan
Roar Rookie
Thank you MG! Best summation of his article. No need to read any more comments :)
chris
Guest
It's a shame but what would make Origin even bigger would be a Kiwi and Victorian side but I don't know how you would go about that?.
Gleeso
Guest
Is this article really about Origin Dave?
Arthur Fonzarelli
Guest
The more NSW lose, the bigger Origin gets. It is becoming the Holy Grail a la the Ashes to the English cricket team of the 90's/00's.
MyGeneration
Roar Guru
Those Telegraph-reading Men in Fluoro Vests have been breeding fast, Steve.
Steve
Guest
- "The Number One Sports Program on Any Channel to date in 2012." Across Nine, WIN and NBN, 4.041 million fans tuned in to last night’s epic third game as the XXXX Queensland Maroons scored a stunning 21-20 win over the VB NSW Blues in front of a sell-out crowd of 52,437 at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. In the process they sent television records tumbling: • Last night’s match was the highest rating Origin nationally, with an average audience of 4.041 million. The previous record was 3.96 million, set in Game 1 of this year’s series; • It was the highest rating Origin series in history, with 11.87 million average viewers tuning in across the three games. (Previous record 10.77 million in 2011); • Last night’s match recorded the highest ever five capital city audience for any Rugby League match in history – 2.68 million – surpassing the 2005 Telstra Premiership Grand Final (2.563 million); • Game 3 and Game 2 this year are now the first and second highest rating programs ever on Channel 9 in Sydney respectively since the OzTAM ratings were introduced in 2001; • The match is the number one sports program on any channel to date in 2012; • Last night’s match achieved the highest ever ratings for Origin in Melbourne, with a record average audience of 421,000. Most watched game in Origin history - NRL.com
MyGeneration
Roar Guru
The Origin cycle is never complete without somebody decrying it's diminishing relevance and asking why anyone cares. I think this is in the manual for any large over-hyped event. Thanks for helping us moving on, Dave, but can we re-use this for the Olympics, Melbourne Cup, the Super Bowl, etc? It seems a shame to waste such moving, albeit discerning, cynicism on one humble sporting event at the arse-end of the world.
Eddie
Guest
RMcD-finally!! Someone with the view of non-australians involvement -currently read Kiwis, Fijians- making Origin farcical. As a Kiwi in Oz twenty years standing, I'd never understood the rabid tribalism between NSW and QLD ( was stoked to watch Aussies bash the crap out of each other to be honest! ) but eventually I realised that the Origin concept is a unique bit of aussie history and culture which I don't think overseas imports could fully appreciate-it's just gold standard footy to them. Origin footy to me was your Lewises, Langers, Meningas, Lockyers, Daleys, Eliases, Johns,' Fittlers etc, etc, etc... not overseas guys slotting in cos of rubbery selection processes. I'm sure Australia has plenty of born and bred talent here, why dilute the concept? What'll happen if some Poms start getting picked?
Dave Edwards
Roar Pro
Seriously, those last two sentences are just a couple of syllables away from being a haiku.