Your correspondent is as big a proponent of international rugby league as you ever will find but to suggest that Test football has already supplanted Origin from a popular Australian perspective is simply laughable.
Wednesday night’s opening match between New South Wales and Queensland peaked at 4.029 million viewers nationally. The blog I do on the Sydney Morning Herald website, at one stage, had 30 times the audience it normally attracts on a Saturday.
Let’s get real, people.
A large proportion of those watching Origin I would be only vaguely aware Australia fields a national team in rugby league and would struggle to name more than two of the countries they play.
Hundreds of thousands would be completely unaware that the cream of the players on show was just beaten 26-12 by New Zealand, or that it was the Kiwis’ third consecutive victory against the green and golds.
And even if trans-Tasman games now feature a higher standard of football than NSW vs Queensland – regardless of widespread ignorance of that fact – that is hardly “international football”, is it? That’s two countries.
For international football to supplant Origin in the popular Australian consciousness, most of the games Australia play would need to be competitive. England are close to beating the Aussies, but there’s a massive drop-off after that.
I agreed with Mal Meninga’s description of Origin I – dour. I loved Josh Morris’ try, and the gripping finale. It wasn’t boring, but for long stretches it was dour, with incongruously brittle goalline defence at times.
My point here is this: Even though NSW are getting as thin in some positions as Queensland have always been – due to the increasing number of NRL players not eligible for either state – Origin will always engulf the eastern seaboard more or less the way it does now.
Once sports, and sporting competitions, reach the status of being cultural touchstones, I really don’t think what takes place during play matters one iota. They become social rituals and people will get excited regardless of the quality of the spectacle.
The challenge for the sport is to park such assets in the right place, count the cash, and use it to reach those who didn’t grow up on cockroaches and cane toads.
Which brings us to what an interesting five days it is for rugby league from a future scheduling point of view.
First, we have Origin: something that will almost certainly be sold separately from 2017, from an NRL salesman standing on the corner between Saturday Street and Sunday Road. Maybe he can be coaxed to Friday Avenue – he might even wander to Monday Lane but that’s as far as the truck from which he is spruiking will go.
Take it or leave it.
I want to open this one to the floor: Melbourne football manager Frank Ponissi recently floated the idea of a Cup competition which starts in the pre-season and continues in the Origin period. This writer recently suggested a World Club Challenge that goes for three weeks in the pre-season, three weeks in the Origin period and concludes with semi-finals and a final after the domestic grand finals.
Would you be more likely to support club football during the Origin period if it was a separate competition with a separate crown up for grabs? If your also-ran team was suddenly in with a chance of winning silverware?
I don’t expect either of these ideas to come to fruition, regardless of your answer.
The NRL wants to put a stop to clubs playing without their stars. The stand-alone weekends will be full of internationals, junior and domestic rep games – not club footy. And that’s fine.
Secondly, on Saturday and Sunday we have the Magic Weekend – an entire round of Super League played at St James Park in Newcastle.
This idea is likely to be floated in Australasia soon – perhaps even next year. It’s a property that will be shopped around to local events corporations in Australia and New Zealand.
I’m hearing the NRL would like to hold it at Eden Park – but surely that would be overkill if the Nines are there as well? Another question for the floor: would you travel to see your team play in a Magic Weekend?
What sort of destination would attract you to see something you can see at your local suburban oval every fortnight anyway? In England, it’s the sense of identity that brings rugby league fans together in a remote location, I suggest.
That doesn’t really exist in Australia because rugby league is so mainstream. So, would you go to Darwin or Perth or Wellington or Adelaide or Cairns (they need a bigger stadium first) – for the party as much as the footy?
Personally, anything that brings hardcore – rather than casual, Origin-type, league fans from more than one club together in Australia would be a good thing.
The sort of sense of identity and unity we will see at “the Toon” this weekend would be a great asset to the sport in Australia.
Check out Michael Hagan’s tactical debrief from Origin I in Steve’s White Line Fever podcast below:
Ben Dunne
Guest
True , NRL needs to hype international games more, Anzac test could be a must watch if they played on trans tasman rivilry a little more..theres nearly as many kiwis in Oz as Qlders. I normally struggle to find out when the games are even
gavin
Guest
I live in regional Qld. To answer your question, I would consider attending a Magic style weekend. It would depend though, on the location and venue. Brisbane, Lang Park - yes; Sydney, Allianz - yes, ANZ - no; Melbourne , AAMI - yes, never happen at MCG during AFL season, Perth, Adelaide, NZ - maybe (more details needed)
Jeremy
Guest
Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk, Will Chambers and for good measure Ryan Hoffman. Inglis. Proctor. A Victorian team would be better than Queensland or NSW.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
One thing for sure Jeremy the NRL at times can stuff up,but rest assured the chances of a weekend SOO are slim,and even it were to happen there is no way on this planet they would give up Tv time for the benefit of their major competitor.Tv right's value for Wednesday origin would be greater than weekends. There would be other games hypothetically either PI tests or 9s to fill in the spaces.The winners of the next Tv contract would insist upon it. The NRL brought forward their Tv negotiations which caught the opposition as well as many within rugby league by surprise,they do get it right at times.
chris
Guest
For once I like to see that happen as the OTT demi god profile of SOO is cringe worthy. Now if SOO was between NSW/QLD/Vic/SA/WA it be a different matter.
Jeremy
Guest
The NRL will kill Origin by putting on the weekend up against AFL round. They will lose the national tv audience by walking away from Wednesday nights. But never underestimate the ability of NRL to ruin its own nest.
Gad
Guest
would these same tens of thousands travel to Port Moresby to watch the Tumuls play Tonga
Wayne Lovell
Roar Guru
Dane why don't you go ask Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk, Will Chambers and for good measure Ryan Hoffman what they think about the Origin concept, and whether they think it has an end date?
Wayne Lovell
Roar Guru
These are ideas that make sense, the product that we have is fantastic it just has to be streamlined a little, to be all inclusive and as efficient as possible (read very little overlaps or detraction from other portions of the season), these are also the concepts that drove my article about a season rich in quality RL.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Yep and no doubt about that either.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Not if there's a trophy and prizemoney on the line.
Jay C
Roar Guru
They are thinking of Manly fans.
Jay C
Roar Guru
The De facto Australian national team is the Australian Cricket team. By far. It is our national sport.
Dane
Guest
Who are we kidding SOO has an end date, there is no point pumping it up just to watch it be slowly deflated when an NRL team is eventually in every state (who knows how long.) Origin on a weekend? NEVER. If origin is held on a Saturday night, the casual viewers will just go back to their preferred sports. Particularly if the other administrations decided to hold 'blockbusters' in the exact time slots. You seriously want to break the season up even more with pointless rep games and other comps during the season? Stupid, stupid, stupid, LEAVE IT ALONE. The premiership season should be the highest and most important competition of rugby league in the world, (or at least Aus.) It shouldn't be crippled and riddled with pointless rep games. All these extra games will just compromise the season even more. To build on origin and make it bigger is just rubbish. This insular mindset that origin is going to continue forever and is of long term importance is deluded, and overall will be harmful to any decent expansion attempt. Many storm supporters are already tired of the concept, loosing their best players, depleting their teams (still asked to pay full price on weekends) adding extra miles and injuries to their players and pointless club losses all so 2 irrelevant states can settle their differences. It's running thin in Vic and can't see it long term helping the game in SA or WA. Could you see Rooney standing down for 10 days from Man U to be prepared for 2 counties to go head to head in three seperate games? Not a chance, in fact it is humorous to even imagine.
sheek
Roar Guru
Link, That is the most cutting response of all. I agree 100% & it hurts. Maroon to red, all to satisfy some pony-tailed imbecilic marketeer.
Dane
Guest
N
Von Neumann
Roar Guru
Well said, Steve. I'd like to point out I had already come up with a [more perfect] perfect season, that included pre season international club>origin-period> then after season club games. You guys can all check it out in my history. Its no different in some ways to others, and I do like your proposal so much, I think they should look into it. Its always nice when different things line up like that. I think people would really enjoy it once they saw such a thing play out pre/mid/end season, multi-layered competitions; it'd need to be done right and I think they'd have an excellent chance in doing that -- Of course, its all helped greatly when people take into account that Perth and Melbourne will be bigger rugby league cities into the future, plus rest of NZ, so they will have more cities to play this expanded league structure in....and they will be shortening the NRL rounds a bit, I'd say, helping that as well. ****** ---- If they can spread more content out away from sydney and brisbane (inc qld/nsw perhaps), they will get good crowds over time. And that is what many people fail to see, in tandem with reducing NRL rounds. ***** Plenty of room for Origin and tests, plus world club, ect. We can do this season schedule a lot better I think. Also in my proposal were knockout finals, and the league winners being slightly different. Of all those ideas I liked knock out finals the best. As well as more immersive competitions over the season. Knockout finals because we can't even sell out the ones we have now plus other reasons. ___ I think that both Origin and tests can be popular all at once. I do not buy this whole one can thrive at the expense of another. It won't be too many more years before we see the big test matches get 2-3million viewers I think. As a movement Test football is gaining considerable momentum in the modern league world. Its not like origin happens either when test matches are on. The transition will be subtle, and the effects moreso. We'll all be engrossed in them so much. There's room for both. __ Perhaps a magic weekend could world, it would have to be at Perths new stadium, or the melbourne cricket ground or Adelaide oval. Im not a fan of it and I do not see how it can benefit the league here. BUT I remain unconvinced of my convictions in regards to others; it could be just the thing the people of adelaide or perth may desire. ___ Im all for the season structure evolving. Pretty sure Origin will become separate, and another package would be world club championship. We need to work both of those. We need to make the calendar more inclusive of the world of league, and less NRL. As to that end the stars are aligning. All the work behind the scenes - for example, allowing more flexibility in squads and levels, and rotation, all the things that help facilitate are more dynamic and diverse, even focused competition, is happening. The big problem with the sport is some fans think its broken. Its always been a work in progress. I'd have to say within 10 years the sport will be miles ahead of where it is now. Its probably ascending to the next level right now, or this year has busted through it. Come 2017 onward, thats when I will be measuring the sports goodness. __ I imagine a time when rugby league will have a 2-pronged weapon to draw in the wider community - origin and tests. Its not that far away.
Freighter
Guest
agreed.... The media have hijacked the game. It's rawness has gone.
tim
Guest
Maybe the two Kiwi sides could be North and South Island. I know there is a player imbalance, but that never stopped Queensland.
Napoleon
Guest
I'd like to see Pacific Origin played over 3 games on the same weeks as State of Origin. Pacifica (Somoa/Tonga/Fiji/PNG) vs NZ They could create their own rivalry and tradition. Little brother vs big brother. The same foundations that made State of Origin. Would also give the non-australian players who now dominate the NRL a chance to be a part of "Origin Week"