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We all know Queensland have dominated NSW for eight years running, it’s no surprise as the team is basically the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos.
It’s not surprising we as fans of the great game watch it each year with anticipation to see if NSW can upset Queensland, however – short of NSW coming up with some fantastic players, a new coach and trainer – I don’t foresee a series win for the Blues in a while.
After watching this year’s series, I’m not really excited about next year’s, not necessarily because I’m a NSW supporter or because my love of rugby league has diminished over the years, but because it’s not as entertaining anymore.
Firstly, if we look at the great players of the game they have all played 20 plus State of Origin games over the space of their careers (if they are retired).
As well as having three every year if you play well enough to get picked for the team for, say, five years in a row, you have 15 games under your belt.
To make the series even more interesting maybe we should extend the gap to two or three years between a series, in order to make it a more substantial contest as well as make it more important to players who get picked for their respective sides.
Secondly, the mass marketing of the matches, with ticket sales and advertising the game, is too much.
If you’re a true supporter you would already know the day the State of Origin is on and you would have a gigantic red circle of it on your calendar at home, counting down the days until the big match.
An easy solution to the mind numbing contention for TV advertising space among the codes is simple and rather cheap in comparison to the millions of dollars spent of State of Origin advertising each year – minimize advertisements using maximum placement.
For example, millions of people listen to the radio on their drive to work and you can guarantee most people are at home by 6:30 eating dinner and watching TV.
I find it ridiculous even though you’re watching the State of Origin an advertisement for the next one comes up on the bottom left hand side of the screen every five minutes.
It’s distracting me from the game they want me watching – seems silly to me.
Third and last is the big hoo-hah at the end of the game. One win in a series isn’t worth a victory lap, when you win the series, come let me know and I’ll cheer for you then.
In conclusion I suggest four main ways of improving the State of Origin’s watchability:
1) Turn the competition into a one series every two or three years.
2) Reduce advertising (it’s like a federal election most years).
3) Don’t be repetitive (every year some Aussie singer no one’s heard of comes along and murders our national anthem, it’s sad to see).
4) When looking into the Queensland team, watch this:
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