State of Origin in Perth makes zero sense

Gee , we hear that excuse a lot don't we." The fans were on the same side as the cameras". Mate I saw the camera pan around all the stands of the stadium many times. Someone's telling porkies about that crowd figure. I'm not the only one who says it.

I was at the game and it seemed pretty accurate to me. Most fans were sitting on the same side of the field as the cameras. Plus, I was lucky to be there as part of a business function and, since it was freezing, most of the people in the corporate boxes were watching from inside.

You want to talk history? Let's talk about the 7 times Origin has been played in Melbourne, which twice resulted in a new attendance record, the most recent of which still stands. Do you think those fans might have helped make it what it is today? Please, talk about hyperbole! Do you honestly think taking 1 game to Perth is going to alienate everybody and have some long lasting negative effect on the game? Is the sport seriously that fragile that taking one game away is going to spell the death-knell? Ridiculous!

We won't know until it happens,but Sydney has its bandwaggoners,and that Sydney team has been underpinned financially and with stars for quite some time.They have had a real;alive dream run since the SL war. They may well have better averages than some Nrl clubs ,when they are in decent slump,but I'll bet their Tv ratings will be disastrous in Sydney. The Lions had their share of flags and high times,but novelty time ends when the party is over. I trust Spotless figures as much as I trust Laidley's ,even when your own fans laugh at the announced figures. Spin it any way you wish,one only has to look at the stadium ,and know its capacity,and the figure announced are let us say,creative.And that's taking into account teh large number of freebies. There is SFA competition on Saturday afternoon G/Fs on TV,whereas Sunday nights is peak time for Tv shows in opposition to NRL G/F. Regardless huge numbers of Melburnians watched the G/F when the Storm played ,in a city that is renowned for the media ignoring them for the bulk of the football season.A complete contrast to teh Swans.

We won't know until it happens,but Sydney has its bandwaggoners,and that Sydney team has been underpinned financially and with stars for quite some time. They may well have better averages than some Nrl clubs ,when they are in decent slump,but I'll bet their Tv ratings will be disastrous in Sydney. The Lions had their share of flags and high times,but novelty time ends when the party is over. I trust Spotless figures as much as I trust Laidley's ,even when your own fans laugh at the announced figures. Spin it any way you wish,one only has to look at the stadium ,and know its capacity,and the figure announced are let us say,creative.And that's taking into account te large number of freebies publicly available . There is SFA competition on Saturday afternoon G/Fs on TV,whereas Sunday nights is peak time for Tv shows in opposition to NRL G/F. Regardless huge numbers of Melburnians watched the G/F when the Storm played ,in a city that is renowned for the media ignoring them for the bulk of the football season.A complete contrast to the Swans.Quite meritorious one would suggest.

Okay , Monday night games aren't ideal for attendances but it was pretty bad for two traditional teams. In fact most games in Sydney are poorly attended. The reported official attendance to Monday nights game was just over 8000. I watched the game with some of my workmates who just picked themselves up from the floor with laughter when I told them that figure. There was no way there was more than 5000 there.

So based on all your comments what you are saying is you don't care about the history of Origin, you don't care about the tradition as long as one game goes to WA. Well why stop there, why not taking the Melbourne Cup for one year or divert the Sydney to Hobart race to Perth - what's the difference? Take the 'Nines'to WA there is your great promoter. Leave Origin to the states and fans who made it what it is today.

Absolutely agree that crowds follow how well a team is doing, hence the Sharks doing well this year, but still think the Swans could endure a couple of years outside the finals and still be the most attended team in Sydney. Whether you believe the figures or not, they are done by spotless, not by the AFL, so factually they are ahead of Penrith, even it not in your opinion. NRL GF is in peak hour, when the AFL has theirs in peak hour, it will be easy to compare.

If there were 3 Manchester derbies and only one of them was getting moved... ...and they were getting moved to a football outpost to bring in more supporters... ...and if Soccer was a small sport on the global scale operating in a relatively small market... ...and if the EPL and Manchester sides needed all the cash and supporters they could get to survive and hold off a much better resourced competitor... Than yes. It would be exactly like that...

You're kidding with Gws right, they count feet for their crowds, no one watches them in sydney. They are often outnumbered at their home games by opposition fans, not to mention all th giveaways they have i.e click on this link to score a family ticket.

I repeat they rely on Canberra fans and visitors and indeed the figures posted at times are dubious to say the least. The Storm as i have often stated receives minimal publicity in the local media,a point you continually ignore. TV ratings in Sydney for both remain ordinary ,with the club that has many members from Sth Melbourne still making little impression . And when the Swans have a bad couple of years,their crowds will drop off.They have been well propped up by the AFL to date.A point of consternation for Vic clubs.The Lions have proved my point. They (Swans)have had a dream run ,virtually since 1995 the outbreak of the SL war.Reality checks suggest dream runs are not eternal. You have ignored and continue to do so,media coverage,financial assistance from H/O,marketing,relocation funding,financial propping up,SL war,salary cap debacle.If that had happened with your mob,the situation would not be so rosy. Drawing comparisons with Penrith with GWS is laughable.Crowds are dubious for a start. More Vic people watched a Storm G/F than Sydney fans watched a Swans G/F.Means little in the total scheme of things.The overwhelming majority of the attendees are visitors not latched on fans. The Storm fans are latched on with few visitors. A gimmick!!!,reading the statements by Koch and Co and GWS they are hardly treating it as a gimmick.Oh and Fed Govt spending will assist.AFL H/O is more than happy. Getting a Perth team in the NRL will not be a gimmick.It will be done ,when all Ts are crossed and i's dotted.No parachuting in.The Force was under resourced and appears rushed in the first place.Whether they stay or not,has ATM nothing to do with the NRL's thinking.Financial stability is the key for all current Sydney clubs. Yes should the Force relocate that will make it easier,but the focus has always been on getting a team regardless of the competition they may face. I suggest if the Pirates get into the top two and the Swans are near the bottom ,we'll then see about crowds. And as has been pointed out Monday nights and regular Thursday nights do not assist but hinder NRL crowd averages.The Sharks have shown 19,000+ on a Sat night,nearly 17,000 on Sun 2pm just where people prefer games.Under the new TV deal,the code controls the scheduling of teams games to be played,

You're being awfully kind to GWS there clipper. If you think their crowds are proof that they have overtaken an NRL club, even Penrith, I think you're gravely mistaken about how much support there actually is for the Giants in this city.

Clipper In a typical NRL round this year, there's games on Thursday and Monday night's. So basically, roughly a quarter of NRL matches are played on school night's. Whichever way you look at it, that is a massive number. Whereas, the AFL only had a handful of Thursday night games. It's one thing to have a few and one thing to have it on a weekly basis. Also in the future, origin scheduling needs to be fixed. It casts a major shadow over the NRL for two months. Meanwhile the AFL have no rep footy, no disruptions. For those reasons, it's no surprise that NRL crowds have struggled at times this year. Having an origin in Perth is no brainer. When you compare Perth and Melbourne,Perth historically has more of a foothold in rugby league, plus it has huge amount of ex pats from NSW, Qld and NZ. A team in Perth will work and it will give the NRL a new timeslot, such as Sunday night 6pm.

Well, the GWS average is better than Penriths this year, and is on the up - of course this is aided by doing well on the field, but the Storm has done consistently well and have not accomplished what GWS have done in a short space of time (overtake a AFL team). The Swans are usually shown on FTA and FOX and you can't get a FOX breakdown on the states, so it is hard to know what the actual figures are, but obviously they aren't going to match the NRL's, but usually top the multichannel figures in Sydney. I think the game in China was only a gimmick, don't think anyone was reading too much into that. We shall see if they ever put a team in Perth what the day to day crowds will be. One thing is certain - they won't match the Swans crowds. I suspect they're waiting for the Force to depart, then swoop in - they will have a ready made audience then, but will struggle if there are 2 'Rugby' teams there.

Epiquin, this article was not worthy of such a lengthy ans sensible response

Shocking crowds on Monday nights are nothing new. Particularly when it involves two ordinary teams.

Who said it's not about money? The fact is that the NRL get's to take its showpiece event to a developing rugby league area and make a windfall to invest back in the game. It's win-win. And yet people want to shut it down because "State of Origin is a competition between QLD and NSW and that’s where it should be played"

The Reds so called running out of gas has been explained many times,paying for accommodation and travel of visiting teams and the pawn in the SL peace deal.Rams was a half hearted effort. There are more people playing rl in WA now,than when the Reds were around.The crowds for NRL games held there are more than decent. The Raiders,Storm start up teams are cutting the mustard on the national front, from the point of success on the field,backing off the field and membership. No one is pouring $20m pa into them either. Another factual post by me under moderation, for zero reason.

It's more like taking the Manchester derby out of Manchester.

I think they're putting up a new stadium, which is bigger than what was required. So the WA govt will want to show it off as a good investment . But WA rugby codes are not cutting the mustard on the national front and each start up runs out of gas after a few years. Media coverage for is pretty limited for the two codes. Previously it was a job to find NRL results anywhere.