Bring back rugby league's Test series

nrl and sl 4 week break to allow international game to flourish.state origin 3 weeks in row nz also have origin then nz aussie test after 3 weeks of origin.same time tonga samoa fiji cook island png pacific cup.recent tonga samoa teams r great because nrl players in it before they had local players that aint going to get the excitment going a break in club games allows this evnen players playing in super league could b selected would do so much for game and loads community work could b done. Meanwhile over in England,England moan no competition but scotland ireland wales could b competitive if players who could play for them actually did instead of waiting to b selected for england.so have a 5 nations with france as well.Tonga samoa teams look strong now with all nrl players so wales ire scot with heritage players like richards ireland brough scotland and many more would come out of the woodwork even from nrl cos they know there is regular international games and of a high standard,then the key to it all is a GB team players would use 5 nations to impress for GB players not picked for england would play for scotl wales etc to impress to get on GB tour.GB tour every end season aus 1 year then nz then aus and nz home away each time. France play winner of pacific cup in series then world cup in 5 th year with all nation stronger cos of more games and better players playing for leser nations

"... it is impossible to create compelling storylines out of one game. We need a narrative in international football..." Any half decent marketer, promoter or publicist ought to know this but it seems like they actually don't.

I hope you're right but I think they've moved them to the smaller grounds simply because the demand isn't there for the bigger stadiums rather than some long-term strategy. I'd never expect them to sell out ANZ but Allianz is another matter. To be honest the only thing that will increase interest in international RL is if NZ and England can become more competitive. I know the last few matches haven't been blow outs but Australia is still winning the vast majority of matches, and has done for decades. If/when NZ or England can start really challenging Australia on a consistent basis (i.e. picking up regular wins) then the interest in internationals will pick up again.

Origin is now too big and too valuable to be "scrapped" - so forget that. But it's *place* in the calender means that it dominates the NRL competition every single year. It's become so big that when Origin is on, all else falls into the shade...and the NRL and its clubs suffer for it. The solution may be as "simple" as proper fixturing.

Couch cough there Redback. Kieren Cunningham, Scott Quinell, John Deveraux, Alan Bateman, Jonathan Davies, Scott Gibbs, Iestyn Harris. Plenty of star studded Welsh talent has contributed to GB rugby league team, over the last 20 years.

For the record there was a crowd of over 35000 last year at Eden park (capacity 50 000) played with kick off at the family friendly time of 8.30pm local time to placate the Aussie TV network. Channel Nine delayed the telecast anyway, thus peeving off both Countries, denying fans in New Zealand the chance to see the game at a reasonable time, whilst Australia ,missed any chance of live coverage.

Johnno, Im saying Origin does all those things Oikee listed. And no, I dont support Origin in Association Football, Cricket, Australian Rules or Netball, as its a distraction from what gets people in through the gate week in and week out, which are the regular club games.

How about aTimati v Dowling 10 round bout before the match to make it more interesting.

OK fair enough Matt. I think they are strategically going about it the right way and increasing the level of interest in internationals along the way so the next time they do go to stadiums such as Suncorp or ANZ, it should be sold out. Mind you, not many events do sell out ANZ stadium anyway...

The difference is that the AFL does have more of a national comp. with two or more teams in NSW, QLD, VIC, SA and WA. NRL have two or more teams in NSW and QLD and one team in VIC, therefore you would be diminishing the national aspect of the competition if you had a state or origin between two states and left out the other three.

I was never arguing with your original statement. They were clearly sold out. I was simply making the comment that a test match filling out a small venue isn't actually very impressive. The fact that they are playing at these venues at all, instead of the bigger venues, is a sign of diminished interest in RL Test matches.

Simple question: did they fill the venues or not?? Simple answer: Yes they did.......trying to riddle a "no" isn't going to change that. My original statement was correct....yes it would be more impressive if they sold out ANZ, but i'm still not sure what you are trying to achieve with your point. Getting sell outs in these smaller cities is far more impressive than the attendance for some other sports at the exact same venues.

Are you saying scrap state of origin Ian Whitchurch. I don't oppose myself if they do, as i think it's lacks meaning now we in national comp. Do you want AFL state of origin brought back Ian Whitchurch?

Oikee, Replace 'Test' with 'Origin' and you see why I think those games weaken the game of rugby league in Australia **** This is the last i am going to say on this subject. The NRL , week to week 26 to 30 rounds is what is paying the bills. The billion dollar tv deal was mostly from our boys slogging it out for 26 weeks then into a massive playoff. You start throwing mid year Origin games into the contest and you will soon jepadise the Billion dollar TV deal. Plus you will open the door for other sports to slot some games into our vacant spots. I am already looking for something to do Saturday, Saturday Night and Sunday , even Monday night, what do i do, nothing. Even if you wanted to play 3 Origin games, or even have Victoria or WA or whoever playing midyear, what about recovery, what about injuries, what happens when it all turns to you know what. Who then takes the blame, you, you who wanted this, then we lose money and go backwards, never to recover. It took along time to recover from superleague, some have never recovered. Gone. Be careful what you wish for, as far as i am concerned the Admin, even David Smith is doing a great job, the only major problem i hav now is the media. They have had free reign now over our game for too long. Time we made them accountable. Rugby league has to pick up the pieces every time a player wants to hurt himself, commit Suicide. I think the media play a part in that, it is time they are made accountable as well. Cheers.

Of course it makes sense. They are played at smaller venues because they don't sell out the bigger venues. State of Origin sells out Suncorp and ANZ (well not always ANZ.) Aus vs NZ doesn't so it is played at smaller venues. Saying that the games "fill the venues" doesn't mean as much when they're played at smaller venues. A game filling ANZ is much more impressive than a game filling Brookvale Oval for example. That SCG test had horrible ticket sales initially and only sold out because of the reduced capacity due to the construction of the Trumper stand and a week long campaign from the Daily Telegraph begging fans to turn up. The Four Nations final at Suncorp between Australia and NZ in 2010 didn't even get 40,000

Canberra has already sold 24,000 ticket's for friday's match, only 1000 standing room ticket's left, so the place will be jumping 25,000 , perfect for test match footy for a match like this. I am happy the NRL have moved away from suncorp and Allianz, and heaven forbid Homebush, for these type of matches. Perfect size 20,000- 25,000, and in places that get less marquee events. The Sydney one got sold out at the SCG as it was the centenary test.

The last Australia vs NZ test in Sydney packed out the SCG as well....i'm not really sure what else fits the description "fill the venues" apart from a sell out crowd. Do you want to take games to Japan instead and see if we can sell out in Tokyo? Your point doesn't make any sense. Last Aus vs NZ test match in each of these cities were sold out: Newcastle Townsville Gold Coast Melbourne Sydney I'm sure we should be able to add Canberra to this list after Friday.

Good ideas dog or war, but here is my view. Other nations have to be looked at especially GB/NZ. But I just don't think from a marketing viewpoint GB VS NZ, or even England VS NZ, outside of a world cup or 4 nations, actually sells. I could see France VS NZ selling, as they have a strong rivalry in rugby and also france's links in the pacific. in some ways a France VS NZ match has more marketing appeal than say England VS NZ. So I wouldn't object to a 2 test series in France end of season for the kiwis, would be quite exciting. And France are getting much better now too, thanks to having an ESL team. Play Ashes every 4 years. The kiwis could have a 2 match tour of france and say play 1 test vs Wales or even Irleand, as part of the Euro tour every 4 years. -With regards to a pacific nations cup or format, more intergation is needed with Fiji/Samoa/Tonag/PNG, with flexible eligibility rules still in rugby league, in a tournament format and upset is defiantly now possible, a lot of ESL/NRL talent.

They "fill the venues" because they're played in Newcastle, Canberra and the Gold Coast. It would be frankly embarrassing if they didn't fill out those venues.

You have to remember that we can't just design the whole International season around Australia. Thus why I put two tests vs GB and France, so NZ can also do the same. It's why the international game suffers already. I had another post with some extra stuff around the international game earlier, so I will combine them now so it makes more sense. ANZAC Test Weekend Friday : Australia V NZ Saturday : First round of the Pacific Nations Cup with Fiji/Samoa/Tonga/PNG. This is a double header at whatever venue is used. Sunday : NSW v QLD emerging players under 23. Move State of Origin to a standalone weekend. Friday : NSW v QLD Saturday: Next 2 rounds of the the Pacific Nations Cup + Finals played between top two teams. Sunday: Junior Roos vs Juniors Kiwis (under 20's) Be great if England could sync any rep games over that weekend as well, to ensure that their is enough Rugby League available for Foxtel (and for people just to watch games) - and NRL clubs could release any international required to participate in ta game in Europe (whatever country they are from), cause ultimately it helps the whole game overall. Then at the end of season international window Year 1: 2 Test Series vs GB + 2 vs France with NZ to do the same. Year 2: Four Nations Year 3 : 2 Test Series vs NZ + 2 vs Pacific Cup finalists (one each) to increase the value in the Pacific Cup format. England can a European version with 1 vs France, 1vs Wales, 1vs Scotland and 1vs Ireland, which would be good before the world cup occurs to ensure minors have some very high level lead up hit outs. Year 4: World Cup The Pacific Nations games should hopefully start getting that huge Islander population that plays our game starting to commit to playing for those nations rather than Australia or NZ instead. Just ensure it's not always played at Penrith! Ultimately the big three won't be touched for quite some time, but if you can make the difference between the top 3 and the next bunch closer, the international game will be much better for it. The only way to do that is have more incentives for players to commit to those teams.