In my youth I had several epiphanies that could have made me rich if I had been more of a doer than a thinker back then, so you’ll understand that nowadays I put my random musings to paper.
These ideas probably won’t make me rich, but I need to get them out of my head so that other possibly more fruitful seeds may grow.
This article is one of a series comprising logical and/or left-field responses to challenges facing the game. Some of these articles will form the basis of proposals and suggestions to the NRL, so your thoughts are appreciated in helping me achieve some clarity. There are times I may be missing the mark, so constructive, realigning, guiding and thoughtful feedback is more than welcome.
(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
But there will also be many other times I will just be right, so live with it!
State of Origin reimagined
Yes, it’s a little late, but I’ve been busy – and anyway, I’ll point out some that some current players and journalists, among others, have similar thoughts.
Years ago, when State of Origin was new, players were removed from their teams for basically the Origin period. Anyone claiming injury was stood down from their club game. That was right, and now is wrong and there are many reasons for this.
The death of this omission approach came from some influential coaches and clubs, who incidentally were stacked with Origin reps, starting a complaint campaign based on how poorly they dealt with losing their stars, and when this didn’t take off as fast as they’d have liked, they started the misguided ‘fans miss out seeing their club stars thus devaluing the competition’ campaign.
The league crumbled and split rounds were introduced. Unfortunately this counteracted one of their biggest weapons – supporting the salary cap, which now isn’t working properly, interestingly enough.
Put simply, the salary cap is designed to spread talent and keep the competition fair. That isn’t working, as evidenced by many of the same teams in and out of the finals, and it’s hard to police.
One of the greatest opportunities to assist the concept of levelling the playing field is to have the teams lose their talent for four to six games a year – Christian Welch is one of the people who agrees with this sentiment. This is a big enough portion of time to give lesser teams a game at an equal level with the more successful clubs but not big enough that a smart and prepared club can’t cover it adequately.
The competition loses around 34 players, which should be spread over 16 clubs, not half a dozen. The solution is that if you stack your team, you lose player power for a month, which will stop some of the stacking.
The split round system creates a great deal of inequality with the draw and opens the league and system to misuse. Who decides which teams play at what times?
One of the misguided commentaries is about clubs losing their players and reduced crowd interest and gate taking at their games. I get this, I do, but it’s something a left-field marketing campaign can answer. Some positive and glass-half-full could get around it thinking.
(Matt King/Getty Images)
Every club has a young gun or two who only gets let out at Origin time. We need to celebrate this. The NRL needs to put a positive spin on this and, again, it’s interesting that the league has put out an article to this effect.
There are ways beyond marketing to attract people to games. You could take them exclusively to the smaller grounds in Sydney to enhance atmosphere and enjoyment and then reduce the entry fee or introduce family deals or two-for-one deals. You could then flood the grounds with kids activities – jumping castles, clowns – to create a carnival atmosphere. We are here for the game, not for the name.
Anyway, getting back to the rostering issue, these days many clubs, including some coached by those who started the gripe, rest their Origin players. For player wellbeing durability we shouldn’t be overburdening them – we claim these guys are so important to the club and game and then burn them out and cut their careers short.
During the Origin period playing State of Origin should be all we expect from these guys, so we may as well take it out of the coaches and clubs’ hands and make the right call.
So what is a positive solution given that ‘international round’ has brought its own list of benefits?
Let’s use this year as the example time frame:
- State of Origin teams of 18 are picked at the end of Round 11. I would suggest that each state picks a squad of 20 and uses only these players – it puts a bit more into the dynamics and coach smarts.
- Round 12 should be a full round, no byes. These 36 to 40 players don’t participate in the round as they prepare for Game 1.
- State of Origin Game 1 is played on the Wednesday after Round 12.
- Round 13 is another full round. The State of Origin squads are ineligible to participate.
- The weekend that should be Round 14 is deferred as a bye round. Instead the international Tests are played and State of Origin Game 2 is played on the following Sunday.
- The next weekend is Round 14 and the State of Origin squads are again illegible to play.
- State of Origin Game 1 is played on the Wednesday after Round 14.
- The following weekend is Round 15. For the sake of player wellbeing the State of Origin squads shouldn’t participate, but I’m sure I’ll be howled down if someone has barely seen the field or really wants to play.
- If the Origin period is extended, then clubs lose their players and the rounds are played in full.
This approach balances the importance of State of Origin with the importance of the competition proper. By removing players we uphold the importance and focus on State of Origin and in this way. The squads only miss three to four competition games with their club.
Having a short and distinct Origin period ensures the competition is valued as a competition, not just for the name players, and a fairly decent marketing company should be able to sell this as a positive.
Paul
Roar Guru
surely does DP. More to the point, imagine an international streaming company picking up the NRL. All of a sudden, we might be looking at ads about German or Swiss products, rather than how much a tin of paint costs at Bunnings!!
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Good point, makes my suggestion for some new marketing ideas a must ;).
Paul
Roar Guru
DP, I wonder just how much pull the broadcasters will have when the negotiations start again for the new contract, due in 2022? Streaming is certainly the way of the future and more & more people are using computers to watch all manner of programmes, including the NRL. That means TV is starting to become a second choice for many, which obviously means the market share for Channel 9 starts to drop, which makes their ability to place demands on the NRL that much weaker. I don't disagree Sunday is what the broadcaster wants, I wonder if they'll be in a strong enough position to make that demand in 3 or 4 years?
Soda
Roar Rookie
Yeah, sorry, I re-read the article and agree, the bye rounds for teams who "traditionally" have origin stars is kind of unfair and warp the draw overall. I would love to see more rookies get a go in the big time.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Well said. I correct myself, fairER... (and would be fairer still if supported by the original - SOO players are out of their teams for SOO period).
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Yeah, some fair points;- (I don't know how to bullets/paragraphs with this system so forgive please) A) Players could still train/run with their club if involved with Origin - if they are in the area. Clubs get by now without players fully involved in every run. B) Substandard games?? I might be biased because I'm a Dragons tragic but since when where our games so great when our SOO guys came back?? And Newcastle and a couple of others suffered likewise. bringing back burnt-out and tired players from SOO isn't a good look either. C) Teams missing their half or hooker are likely to be teams near the top so that falls in line with my 'equalisation theory'. D, E, F & G) Up-and-coming v retread is all in the marketing, I could sell it. Same answer for taking out the 'stars' it's all in the promotion. As is the packaging of pricing and selling the product, every hotel/tourist destination has down times and they reduce pricing and sell other positives. H) the two most successful clubs atm don't have the same Cap issues as others and I hardly think they can fall back on 'cap management'. Melbourne (apparently) have around $1mill in TPA's - more than any other club and any claim that chooks are cap compliant without heavy reliance on unknown TPA's is the stuff of dreams. 'Stars' out of their clubs during Origin period supports Salary Cap and 'level playing field' measures. I) comments on Titans, you are quite correct, Cap can't be blamed for poor managers, but the failures here are more than Cap issues. J) You could be right about the future of the SOO audience. Time for a decent marketing company to be involved, I will gladly accept your recommendation.. :)
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Correct. No byes, give SOO players freedom from club pressure, get it over in a short time frame, give 'lesser' clubs a shot against the 'star teams' sans stars, create some atmosphere around the up-and-coming guns. I could have written less but you have no idea how messy the inside of my head was, had to do some sweeping.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Not as boring as Roosters and Storm in the GF again this year. Storm have around a mill extra $$ available through TP's and goodness knows how much Roosters can access given their squad, so I'd say the Salary Cap needs some help to discourage team stacking.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
That's what I'd want to encourage Soda, just the way it is now with the split rounds and SOO players backing up for their clubs kind of negates the 'handicap' and creates additional player fatigue for the 'stars'.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
That's nice and simple and I'd have no issue, but I think (as discussed below) the broadcasters want Wednesdays.
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
"...the salary cap is designed to spread talent and keep the competition fair." Not quite. It's designed to keep the competition fairER than it would be if there was no salary cap - just open slather. Warren Ryan once said the competition would never be completely level, if it was, every game would end in a draw. There will always be variables.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
So I am just bullet pointing my concerns with your plan and my thoughts on some of the thoughts you have listed; Are you suggesting that a team basically doesn't train together for about 6 weeks? How is that going to look on the field when the players come back to their clubs? You end up with a month of substandard games because the best players aren't there and then another 2-3 weeks of substandard games as the players try to get combinations going again. A team missing a second rower or winger for 6 weeks is one thing. A team missing it's half or hooker is another totlly different thing. To one of your other points - yes, the odd up and comer gets a start during Origin, but re-treds and never will-be's also get a run. The Elite players are what sell the NRL. Taking them out of the NRL for close to two months kills the NRL. I am ok with taking the odd game to a smaller ground etc. but reducing ticket prices etc.. it al just sounds like you are basically saying "yep we are giving you a substandard product - here are some cheap tickets and fairy floss to make up for it". Hardly a good message. The Salary Cap is intended to spread talent and keep the compeititon competitive, yes - it is also intended to protect cubs from themselves. The Salary Cap is working just fine. That 2 clubs manage their cap better than others speaks to the quality of roster management around the game and the lack of good quality administrators. For Example; Is it the Salary Cap's fault that in the space of about 3 seasons the Titans over spent (signficantly) on Hayne, Taylor, Cartwright and Peachey? No, that is Graham Anessley's fault no other adminstrator is that incompetent. End of the day, my personal view is that the value of Origin is savagly over rated and as we enter an era of people watching their TV on demand and not being subject to whatever the 4 commerical networks show on a Wednesday at 7:30pm; that non traditional league viewer tuning into Origin will decline and its use as a promtional tool will decline to a point where it is causing as much damage to the NRL as it is benefiting it.
Don
Roar Rookie
Paul. Part of my job is managing a multi million $ media spend across Tv, Radio, Press and online. I’m not supposing anything. And what you want to throw in for free for a broadcaster is nothing they will pay extra for anyway. Foxtel overpay for sports already. They have to have sports or they bust. Kayo is their affordable version of the same model to capture more subscribers. And the NRL aren’t going to CH7 unless 9 is bidding for the AFL. You cannot have both major Winter codes with the same FTA owner. And even then, every FTA broadcaster would still prefer SOO on Wednesday night. Which is actually the point being debated.
Paul
Roar Guru
You're supposing Channel 9 will a) bid for the SOO when the broadcasts rights come up for renewal and b) win the bid with a reduced number. There's other companies out there ready to jump in and take this series away from 9, just as there was for the cricket. If you throw in other incentives like the women's SOO and an under 20's series as sweeteners, I can see this package being very attractive to Fox and maybe even channel 7. All you need are two people keen for the same thing and the price could actually go up, not down.
Paul
Roar Guru
can see where you're coming from Nat and don't disagree. I just go back to my original suggestion that Sunday games better suit SOO, IMO, but working out the actual time of the game to suit TV, would be an issue
Don
Roar Rookie
Ch9 were not happy about the Sunday SOO scheduling at all. It was done to appease fans. If it continues into the next broadcast negotiations they will not pay as much for it. Simple as that.
Nat
Roar Guru
That's the conundrum though, 8pm is their prime time, that's why they moved the GF to later in the evening to catch the later audience. Sunday has proven not to be as highly rated and I think the NRL only really changed it to appease all the origin (in it's current form) nay-sayers and 500k less eye-balls is big $ to a TV network. They're not making these decisions based on you or I, we are going to watch in any event but that extra viewers in midweek prime time is one they are not going to give up lightly or cheaply.
Nat
Roar Guru
Hi DPS. I tend to agree with the premise. Correct me if I'm wrong and I don't want to over simplify here but you're not proposing too much change. Play full rounds instead of splits sans the Origin reps. The Bye round turns into a Pacific nations test weekend culminating in G2. Seems simple and not too far from the current approach. Definitely the NRL could do more to promote these games where the young guys are getting a start. We have seen two good examples this year alone, the young Broncos v Cronulla and last week's Panthers v ... umm... Cronulla. Working with the clubs to see who the young prospects are and send out press and social media releases. Fox/ch9 want eyeballs as well so they could help 'push the barrow' in creating excitement around these fixtures. Subsidising gate tickets for bums on seats. There's plenty they can do that changes the message from '2nd grade' team '1st opportunity to shine' type of theme. That 3 weeks for the young guns is as important as the 3 games for the origin rep and their enthusiasm is great to watch.
Paul
Roar Guru
"A large % of the Wednesday audience are non NRL fans and interested due to a lack of other TV options". If so many non-NRL fans are watching on a Wednesday, surely they watch on a Sunday. The only reason I assume is many would rather watch a movie than the game? I'm also not clear why it can't be played on Sundays, but in a timeslot guaranteed to get more viewers? It doesn't have to be shown at 8pm on a Sunday night.
Nat
Roar Guru
And only got 1.9m viewers. G1 & G3 beat that in the metro areas alone. A large % of the Wednesday audience are non NRL fans and interested due to a lack of other TV options.