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Finding the positives in Origin scheduling

NSW Blues players celebrate during Game I of the 2013 State of Origin rugby league series. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy
Roar Guru
15th July, 2013
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July brings but two certainties each year: tax returns and debates around State of Origin scheduling.

But while the topic has popped up on The Roar sporadically in recent weeks.

Canterbury’s eight try thrashing of Premiers Melbourne on Sunday has inevitably seen the issue become mainstream media fodder.

Sunday’s result certainly highlights the need for tweaking the Origin schedule. However I feel it is important to take stock of the positives and to remind readers that it is not all doom and gloom when it comes to the mid year draw.

Let’s start with Origin itself.

This year’s series will conclude with three sell-out crowds totalling around 220,000 fans while games one and two have both drawn TV audiences well in excess of two million.

However, despite these impressive figures, there are many who state (as they do each year) that Origin must be played on a stand alone weekend.

While a break in the season to accommodate State of Origin certainly has a lot of positives, I feel that the fixture is better off staying midweek.

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Why? Because Origin is essentially a made-for-TV event.

It is quickly forgotten that the NRL’s Sunday night experiment with Origin was not a hit with fans.

As these games were played on long weekends, fans chose to pack up and head off to the snowfields, or to find warmth up north, rather than make plans around Origin.

The Saturday night ratings graveyard would fare even worse as there are so many competing forces vying for audience attention.

These are not just sporting options, either. There’s cousin Steve’s 30th; that music festival in Peats Ridge; and that farewell dinner for your wife’s friend who’s moving to London for work.

A Saturday night fixture is likely to relegate Origin to “just another Saturday night event.”

Along with super rugby, AFL and cousin Brett’s engagement party.

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The appeal of midweek games is that this is peak viewing time for TV audiences.

Additionally, workplace and schoolyard banter has become synonymous with the Origin experience (like changing Gary from Payroll’s computer background to a picture of Gorden Tallis while he’s out getting you coffee).

There are few options for sports junkies to get their fix during the week and even fewer large-scale events.

Wednesday night gives Origin a strong point of difference.

We should not forget the importance that TV revenue for Origin has in underpinning the NRL. TV Revenue that comes from exploiting midweek audiences.

Nor should we forget that midweek scheduling does not deter fans from attending.

However, the flipside of the Origin coin is the effect that it has on the regular season.

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After all, club matches become second fiddle, while Melbourne’s poor performance against Canterbury demonstrates how badly teams are affected by representative player dream.

But to blame all these issues on Origin is overly simplistic.

After all, the NRL season is like a rock concert.

The band plays its familiar hits at the start to rev up the excited crowd and their best song at the end to finish on a high, while their mediocre stuff is left to fill in the middle.

Similarly, the midseason is less engaging, not just because of Origin’s popularity, but because games are largely inconsequential.

The thrill of a new season has worn off, but it’s too far out from the finals to see teams jostling for those all-important spots in the top eight.

There are also positives to come from player drain in Origin time.

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The void left by representative players gives future stars a taste of first grade in a relatively low-risk environment. It also gives fans of poor performing clubs a chance to see their team get a rare glimpse of victory or a high profile scalp.

Both these advantages, I would argue, are beneficial to the game as a whole.

Besides, if a club misses the finals because their stars were missing for three rounds, than they have bigger problems than State of Origin. Nobody ever claimed that Origin cost them a premiership.

So by all means, tweak the schedule, suspend the competition if you must. But let’s not make rash decisions in the face of panic. We do not want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

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