Dave Smith reluctant to tinker with Origin

It's just that they had 5,000 fewer "real" fans AFTER winning the Premiership and with the likes of Sonny Bill still in the star-studded line-up. It must have had Politis pulling out some of his luxurious locks.

I have been working on a solution but it still has some tweaking to do, this is what I have so far: 20 Rounds of NRL, with the first 10 rounds being played straight through without a break. The current rep round would disappear. The Competition would then stop for 6 weeks of Rep Football. Within this period we would see 3 Competitions being held before the NRL recommences Rounds 11-20, then final ect. 1. The Traditional State of Origin held on the Wednesday Night of the 2nd, 4th and 6th week. In needs to stay on the Wednesday night because to me it's why it works so well: it doesn't have to compete with the other codes. 2. New Zealand Origin held on the Monday Night of the 2nd, 4th and 6th week. Many different combinations of teams have been suggested in the past: North Island v South Island, NZ Born V NZ eligible ect but the one that I think will really work is Auckland V NZ Regional. When I lived in NZ what struck me was the level of disdain Kiwis that where not from Auckland had for those from the City of Sails. They even had a derogatory name for them: JAFA's which is an abbreviation for 'Just Another F_____ Aucklander'. I though about having the game on the same night as Origin but I think it would be too much. Having it on the Wednesday of the 1st,3rd and 5th week doesn't work either as they wouldn't have enough time to train prepare before the first game. 3. Caribbean-Pacific Cup – Nine teams from around the Pacific and also the Caribbean playing for the C-P Cup. Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, PNG, Cook Islands, USA, Jamaica, Junior Kiwis (20’s) and Junior Kangaroos (20’s) compete in the first competition played at various grounds around Australia. The first 3 weeks would be a round robin with 3 groups of 3 teams with the top two in each group qualifying for the final in the last three weeks. Being that there is 3 in a group, each team would have a bye within the first 3 weeks. 3 games per round (weeks 1 – 3) would allow for three time slots to be filled: Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. The six teams that have qualified for the finals (weeks 4 – 6) would be given a rank between 1 – 6. The top two teams automatically qualify for the semi finals in week 5, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5 in week four playing off to also make the semi finals. The semi s in week 5 would feature 1 v winner of 4 v 5, 2 v winner of 3 v 6. The final would be on the Saturday Night or Sunday Afternoon week 6. Although this still has a way to go, especially in the fact that there is only one game being played on the last weekend before the round 11 kicks off again; but I think it is a start. It allows the NRL to exist by itself without being compromised, It promotes the International game and also keeps Origin in its traditional format (just over 6 weeks instead of the 8-9 it currently takes to complete)

"That's Des being Des". No, that's Des criticising officials/admin but "not a worry" says Todd Greenberg, "that's my former club- and a big one I'll add- so there will be no fines handed out for that!" Does anyone else notice any double standards here? While the nrl is slave to channel 9, I don't foresee any changes to the soo format but there have been some decent suggestions here.

SOO has been played on a weekend,it was a ratings disaster. Advertisers and TV stations,don't pay the biggest bikkies for the lesser raters.

Spot on Renegade.One of the reasons Richardson was appointed by the NRL was to look at schedule;ing,structures and the future.Des is just being consistent ,when her loses.

Nonsense State of Origin needs to be mid season. Players need an of season and you have internationals at years end. Please explain why the Melbourne cup is silly and irrelevant? Also isn't the super bowl the grand final essentially?

SOO would be successful whenever or wherever its played, SOO is the accumulation of all the best players from NSW and Qld playing and displaying a great, hard and very competitive game of RL and showing (none RL followers) and spectators what true RL is all about. I would (as I've said before) put SOO 1 to 3 at the end of the NRL season and I would select all the players before the NRL grand final, so that the players that are selected are still involved in the game. It would be much better for the fans, clubs and for the whole of the NRL to have SOO at the end of the season like the a 'Supebowl' in America. The games could be played in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin and/or Hobart on a year by year rostered system so that RL could be exhibited and promoted all around Australia or even held overseas. That would be a much more constructive and more entertaining way of playing SOO instead of the current system where it disrupts the NRL comp and clubs are suffering because of SOO. And giving the "Melbourne Cup' as an example is just silly and irrelevant.

And who says the NRL aren't trying to do that...? It's like suggesting that Mal or Hasler should try and be a better coach and help their teams get a win...

Well if he is not going to tinker with SOO then I will just have to take a 3 months to 4 month break from the NRL. The NRL comp is just decimated and destroyed while SOO 1 to 3 is on. And when the attendance figures are going to be non existent then I'm sure that Mr Smith will start to tinker with something or the SOO. Very bad thinking and planning by the NRL and as usual they will flog a dead horse until it destroys the whole pack. That is what the NRL do with everything that is within their grasp. Play the whole SOO series at the end of the NRL grand final, that is the only solution to this mess that SOO causes to every fan, club and coach in the NRL comp.

I also think people attribute too much of the problem to Origin. People will naturally lose interest in the middle of the season, the same way they will in the middle of a concert or the middle of a tv series. As far as a strategy for capitalising on exposure? Well, I can't answer that one for you.

Will SOO have the same format in 30 years time, 20 years, 10 years, 5 years?? the answer is no. It will change at some point. The main problem i see for SOO in the future is the increasing percentage of "origin ineligible" players in the NRL. ie. islanders/poms/kiwis etc. This and the number of Kiwis who are opting to play for NZ. My crystal ball says that the rivairy between NSW and Qld will be usurped by the rivalry between NZ and Aus and that SOO will take a back seat. Origin will be a one off match on the june long weekend and a 3 test series between NZ/Aus will take place post NRL season.

You don't have to ruin Origin to do it. I think that's where rugby league thinking gets fuzzy. Whenever we talk about strengthening one area of the game we automatically think we have to weaken another area. Keep Origin on a Wednesday night. No NRL fixtures on the weekend before two of the games. Have a variety of NSW v Qld U18s, U20s, residents, womens. NSW cup v Qld cup. Samoa / Fiji / Tonga / PNG tests and final. Womens test. All-stars game. Old-timers game. 7s. 9s. Touch footy / oztag Get rid of byes for the clubs and you have one round where origin players don't play for their clubs prior to the game. All Origin players back up after all three games. We promote different areas of the game. Origin stays on a wednesday night. The season stays the same length and same number of games.

Too right AR.

Hahaha...you almost made it all the way thru without bagging Hasler. Agreed - there's NO WAY any changes with any scheduling for NRL, Origin, Internationals will happen prior to the TV deal.

Ok - but there needs to be a strategy to build off the back of that exposure. Is there? The NRL season does get trashed. What I'm saying is that the NRL needs to be satisfied that the trashing is warranted. Which it may well be. But I don't think the NRL know that is the case...I think its all scheduled that way because that's what the broadcaster would pay the most money for.

Good stuff JC, they need to keep origin largely as it is, and build around it. Why change it? Like you say there are just too many keyboard warriors out for blood. What I would be doing is replicating Origin except with a mid year tests window. For 1 out of 3 origin rounds I would use it for GB v NZ test, and then the winner of that would play Australia later in the year. We have ANZAC NRL so I do not think we need an anzac test. Then later in the year, you have the AUS V NZ test on MID WEEK! Yes! MID WEEK! What makes origin work is mid week, mid-year. We need to be playing at least 2 test matches mid year (1 oz v nz and 2 GB V NZ) for now. The NRL season will be reduced anyway, and roster management made easier with a salary cap and lower tier re-structure, all in good time. But I agree, too many keyboard warriors. Then, one will need to factor in a world club challenge into the calendar and end of season test matches (eg Four Nations). We need to move down the road of Origin and Test football while balancing club. If there are only 20 NRL rounds, or 22, you have more of a chance of putting a couple of those on stand a lone weekends (but not all). I am of the opinion that in time there will be less whining with all the changes. The NRL is probably too important atm in relation to the bigger-stage games. When those games happen, they need to take precedence. I also think knock out finals would be a good thing - it takes away an extra two games while delivering more immediacy. I am of the opinion that we should accept less money to make a better year/structure. But not at the expense of changing things if it means a stand alone weekend has people watching other sports instead. So in my outline there may be 5 weekends of interference (3 origins and 2 test rounds -- tests on thursday nights perhaps or Friday) but we won't be stopping the NRL for that. They can elevate other things. For 3 rounds I am sure enough can be mustered up thats not NRL club football to have people watch. The clubs think they are rugby league. Its a bit silly imho.

So what? Lets ruin Origin so 3000 more people show up to watch the titans? Just whingers is all it is. Some of the footy on the weekend was great.

Jay, Origin is successful, yes. but NRL during Origin is garbage. More fans need to boycott NRL games during Origin.

The Roosters don't have real fans. That's why.

One idea I just thought of would be to give all teams 3 byes in the lead up to each Origin and play the U20s in prime time. Would be a great opportunity to showcase he players in development. I for one would watch it.