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The NRL should turn the dismal City-Country attendance from last Sunday into a positive by breaking free of the event permanently and replacing it with a version of the Challenge Cup.
An NRL Challenge Cup could take place over the four representative weekends with the Round of 16 during the ANZAC / Pacific Island Test weekend and the Quarter, Semi and Final rounds being played during the three State of Origin weekends.
The primary benefits of this format are threefold.
Firstly, there can be a greater country presence across the Australia and New Zealand every year by playing the Round of 16 and even Quarter Finals in regional locations, which is a superior outcome compared to isolating it to a single regional venue every year for the City-Country clash.
Secondly, the current system poses problems to the NRL in that Origin player unavailability for NRL matches leading into the mid-week Origin games often results in low crowds and TV ratings while also tarnishing the integrity of the NRL competition.
The Challenge Cup would enable the main NRL season to stop being compromised by having Origin players unavailable for crucial regular season matches through switching Origin matches to Sunday nights while the TV networks can show the Challenge Cup contests over the same weekend without losing a whole weekend to Origin.
Thirdly, more sponsors can be attracted to the game which could also be used for prize money to make the Challenge Cup even more enticing for clubs and fans who could be disheartened with their team if they are struggling in the main NRL season.
And there would be great potential for some bonus revenue if the Challenge Cup final, played on the Friday or Saturday night prior to Origin 3, became a signature event on the calendar like the English version.
Sure, the Challenge Cup would have to be played free of representative players, but it would also present an opportunity for clubs to rest players or blood U/20 or fringe players with the senior squad which would be a great opportunity for player and team development.
And if the NRL really wanted to entertain and engage the country, they could introduce a preliminary Round of 32 where NRL clubs would face the 16 best regional teams in the country during the NRL pre-season.
There is no reason why this can’t be implemented in 2014 as all the key stakeholders would be better off.
The country would receive more matches, the NRL season would have representative players included in every round creating a fairer competition, the TV networks and fans would receive more club matches across every weekend of the season, representative players wouldn’t be overloaded with matches during rep season, and more sponsors could be brought to the sport.
The only loser out of this could be the Queensland Origin team who would no longer be able to laugh at NSW beating themselves up while they get a crucial weekend of rest leading into Origin.
It would be flabbergasting if Dave Smith and his new partner in crime Todd Greenberg persist with the status quo in light of such a superior alternative being available at his fingertips given his business acumen.
Hopefully he can see the light and has the power to make a positive change for the game.
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