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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I am sure you will be deathriding the event Clip.And be first on the phone to let us know I told you so etc. And if the crowds are as expected and the profits ditto,I am sure you will allow me the luxury of a retort in kind. Anycase these Fijians living in Fiji seem to appreciate the opportunity. www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=238508 The fact that SOO is on prime time here and the RLWC is on early hours,has zero to do with what the players involved feel.And even drawing TV ratings comparisons on that basis is ludicrous.
Renegade
Guest
Well ummm of course that's not going to happen clipper considering the games are on at 3am and origin outrates everything....it would be like me saying i'll forgo my daily coffee if the bledisloe cup outrates origin - yeah good luck with that!!
clipper
Guest
Perhaps the players may think it's the ultimate, but the public certainly don't, that's just the way it is - although I will forgo my Pimms if proven wrong and any RLWC match out rates any of the three origin matches in Australia.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The number of countries involved compared to two clubs,the fact that for Kangaroo players playing for your country is the greatest honour and indeed similarly for the lesser lights. From figures I have garnered to date,the event looks certain to surpass the 2008 for profitability,and from ticket sales so far ,with nearly 40% from non heartland areas in the UK,the crowds are on line to do the same. I suggest it is a little more than a theory. I remember one of your fellow mates who posts here, under various guises,state,the 2008 one would run at a loss.He disappeared into the ether, when it was shown to be profitable.
clipper
Guest
We'll see if the ratings and crowds support that theory
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The RLWC is the ultimate for this season ,back to the Pims melad.
Chris
Guest
How are you going to make the new teams winners in 2-3 years?????? The only way is money.
clipper
Guest
The Grand final is the penultimate of the season? Do you mean it is the one before the last big event of the season or there is one thing that is bigger in the season or did you mean to say the Grand final is the ultimate of the season?
Epiquin
Guest
I'm glad you have such faith in state of origin. That's a good thing. But thinking you are bulletproof when you are not can have terrible consequences. Yes. I think if you mess with origin, move it to the weekend, move it to after the gf etc. it will not be as strong and the perceived positive effect this has on club matches would be far outweighed by the damage to Origin.
Australian Rules
Guest
You seem to be of the view that if you touch Origin at all, you'll break it. I think Origin is far stronger than that. And it can continue to be - without hurting the regular season.
Epiquin
Guest
Skewed thinking? How? I don't believe moving origin would keep it strong. After all, they tried it once. In order to argue my point, please re-read the article (assuming you even read it in the first place)
Epiquin
Guest
I agree. I don't have a problem with suspending NRL, but I believe moving origin would be disastrous.
maximillian
Guest
you said it yourself in the article with the GF replay. That game shouldve been a blockbuster but it was reduced to a below average match robbed of all the best players because of Origin. Why cant we come up with a way of keeping Origin great without diminishing the NRL for 8 weeks? I think we can by stopping the NRL for 3 weeks to run the Origin series. Bellamy used the example of Super Rugby & how they put the comp on hold for the Lions & other international matches. They understand the damage that can be caused by having dour S15 games played by substandard reserve graders, in front of below average crowd & tv audiences. Instead they have a break from Super Rugby & the fans are appeased with top level internationals. RL can take a leaf out of Unions book & do the same thing. Stop the NRL for 3 weeks for Origin & have a few other matches at the same time for the fans - eg: NZ version of Origin etc.That way the integrity of Origin is maintained & blockbuster NRL matches get the billing they deserve with all the best players on board.
Australian Rules
Guest
You say "the problem is with club matches". and: "Moving origin isn’t going to suddenly make midseason games more exciting." For me, that's skewed thinking. You can move Origin, keep it strong, and make the midseason games less compromised.
Epiquin
Guest
It is a tough choice. Origin does cause player fatigue, but a stand alone weekend would likely hurt origin. I still believe the solution lies in fixing the club schedule, rather than tinkering with origin too much. I did think it was interesting earlier this year though when all these 'overworked' and 'fatigued' players who complain they have to play tooanu games, suddenly wanted to be allowed to play Japanese Rugby in the off season. I'm sure money has nothing to do with it...
Johnno
Guest
Agree. Cross coder you know your rugby league as good as anyone. -Cross Coder for independant commission chairman , could do alot worse. But problems with current schedule: -Player welfare -Yes they are doing the Bye rounds better and well planned but still not ideal, in fact far worse than ideal, maybe not dire, but very challanging eg Bulldogs VS Storm flogging -And SOO I would like to see emerging games, I would watch them, eg NSW VS QLD residents, eg NSW country VS QLD country Under 20's, Maybe a NZ VS rest of world (exiles) which gordon tallis talked about last night and will write an article in the courier mail tommorow. -Mal Meninga the actual QLD coach did an article, in the courier mail on weekend calling for stand alone origin, as he is seeing 1st hand the fatigue levels. -but as steve mascord in the paper said rightly on weekend, and now cross coder, if the NRL wants to change scheduling, they will have to re-negotiate contract, and that would leave them possibly out of pocket etc, and if they wanted to change, and pull out well they can't. The compensation and termination pay out, would send the NRL bankrupt for 50 years. So not gonna happen.
Epiquin
Guest
Obviously you misinterpreted the analogy (since you referred to the Carolla as a luxury car). What I'm saying is: the problem is with club matches. Not with origin. If the problem were with origin, players would not play it, fans wouldn't watch it (on TV or at the ground) and it wouldn't make any money. If the problem is with club games then fix that, don't go shipping off an event that breaks TV and attendance records so that a a thousand extra show up at Parramatta stadium. As I point out in the article, this is a logical fallacy anyway. Moving origin isn't going to suddenly make midseason games more exciting. Correlation is not causation. I also point out the benefits that origin has on clubs.
Australian Rules
Guest
You ask "Why fix what isn’t broken?" That's head in the sand stuff. It suggests everything is already perfect...I mean, why seek to improve anything? Meninga thinks it could be improved: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/state-of-origin-series-killing-overall-rugby-legaue-product/story-fni3fbgt-1226678990757 ...a sentiment that has been around for years: http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/nrlexperts/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/origin_is_killing_the_nrl/P20/ And your analogy is back to front, the NRL comp is the mansion, Origin is the luxury car. Right now, it's parked on the front lawn for 2 months each year... why not make some minor adjustments so it fits in the garage?
Epiquin
Guest
I'm glad someone else is capable of making sense. Sure a few tweaks could improve things, but are things really that bad that we have to make these rash knee-jerk decisions to minor issues?
Epiquin
Guest
I'm sorry but saying origin is just an interruption to the regular season ignores the huge attendance and TV ratings. Any drastic shift to origin would be a death knell. Why fix what isn't broken? If the problem is with club games, why is everyone wanting to change origin? It's like selling your mansion because your carolla doesn't fit in the garage...